Invisible Architecture - Tackling the Human Element in IT Project Implementation

BCS Press Release 30/03/05

The biggest problems faced in designing, managing and integrating computer systems are often not technical but "socio-technical": the integration of the new technology and the human element.

A new book from the British Computer Society identifies common challenges and the answers to a large number of people-related obstacles facing IT directors, managers and consultants. "Invisible Architecture - The benefits of aligning people, processes and technology" provides examples from around the world to demonstrate how IT implementation might work in one country or culture but will require a totally different approach in another. It also shows how cultural business differences can arise such as when a sales and an IT department become at logger-heads over the development of a web-based selling tool because each have very different ideas of its end use.

The research underpinning "Invisible Architecture" is the direct result of concerns voiced by managers and CEOs from the financial services, oil and gas, automotive and manufacturing industries who felt that the problems (and the costs) associated with networked systems were increasingly people-related, rather than technology related. This book explains the practical solutions that emerged from this research.

The biggest problems faced by those involved in designing, managing and integrating computer systems were more often than not technical - they were "socio-technical." This book will appeal to the many IT managers who find themselves in a similar situation. They are probably highly trained in the technical aspects of implementing IT systems, but quickly realise that rolling them out across different cultures requires a totally different type of training and support.

"Invisible Architecture" provides strategies for designing software around the cognitive, social, cultural, political, economic, organisational and business processes affecting companies and their IT systems. The book provides an introduction to the design and management of 'socio-technical systems' using examples of portals, supply chains business and learning systems across different industry contexts.

"'Invisible Architecture"' uses case studies from a range of industries to:

• Raise awareness of business systems as "socio-technical" complexes
• Show how this impacts on competitiveness in a range of industry sectors
• Demonstrate a range of generic problems and practical strategies for aligning technical systems with human information systems.
• Pull together the theoretical strands from different disciplines for those who wish to go into this in greater depth

The case study scenarios are real and recurrent ones from e-business, e-learning, defence and the manufacturing and engineering supply chain. They show how technical and human information systems are often "coupled" systems that can be harnessed to advantage, but may also work at cross purposes to generate cost and risk.

Lack of alignment between complex technical and human systems has become more of an issue as enterprise systems extend their reach across local communities in diverse communities and cultures. These are issues that are at the heart of competitiveness, but not yet at the heart of training and professional development.

"Invisible Architecture" is intended as an awareness raiser that identifies the most recurrent problem scenarios impacting on competitiveness, and the most transferable strategies for those who have to deal with them.

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