The impact of e-commerce on the role of the is professional: an exploratory study

Abstract

Understanding the knowledge, skills and abilities of Information Systems (IS) professionals has been a longstanding goal of information systems research. An IS professional's ability to perform in his or her role is vital to the utilisation of information systems within an organisation. The introduction of e-commerce has opened a new set of challenges for the IS professionals who are most frequently tasked with developing e-commerce solutions. However, they often do not have the competencies required to successfully execute these e-commerce projects. This competency deficit raises an important question: to what extent have the competency requirements of IS professionals changed because of the introduction of e-commerce? Furthermore, what IS role changes have occurred because of the need within organisations to manage e-commerce activities? To answer these questions, a case research method was used. Interviewed were fifteen IS professionals employed in businesses implementing or maintaining e-commerce strategies. The results indicate that the implementation of e-commerce in organisations has introduced three main business changes: expectations, perceptions, and compliance. These three changes have in turn driven project changes and subsequent changes in the competency and role of the IS professional. The end result of all these changes, is that IS professionals are now required to acquire, among other things, a new set of relationship skills, including group facilitation, relationship management, and peer networking. The implications of this result for the IS professionals are discussed and recommendations for future research and strategies suggested.