Towards the development of a model for hardware standards in information technology procurement: Factors for consideration

While research in academic and professional information technology (IT) journals address the need for strategic alignment and defined IT processes, there is little research about what factors should be considered when implementing specific IT hardware standards in an organization. The purpose of this study was to develop a set of factors for consideration in preparation for the development of a representative model for implementing hardware standards. A final set of eight factors was developed in relation to the following set of categories: (a) examples of implementation processes, derived from selected cases; (b) descriptions of how those selected processes are applied within organizations; and (c) ways in which selected processes further contribute to the understanding of IT strategic alignment with business (or organizational) goals. Factors examine the role for the IT department, the establishment of formal and informal communications channels, using a defined scorecard to evaluate IT hardware assets, and leveraging IT asset management practices. This was an explanatory study, utilizing a grounded theory approach to the research design and incorporating a survey as a key part of data collection. This study was built on seminal research in the IT discipline in two key areas: (a) the strategic alignment of IT with corporate strategy, and (b) the implementation of standards in IT. A focus on existing practices as reported in the literature was augmented with the use of a survey of senior IT managers to gain insight into applied processes currently being used across forty-five organizations. In-depth interviews were completed which drew upon both a literature review and data from the survey regarding current IT standardization practices to gain an understanding of current IT hardware asset management and standardization practices.