544 Part IV • The Information Management System
Controlled
GrowthContainmentHighLowHighRESOURCES FOR SUPPORTCONTROLLaissez-faireAccelerationLowFIGURE 13.7 Strategies for User Computing (Adapted from
Munro et al., 1987–1988; Brancheau and Amoroso, 1990)
users. Four approaches are shown in Figure 13.7
Although a laissez-faire (“hands-off”) approach is not
common today, it may be used when new technologies
are involved. For example, employees may be purchasing
personal digital assistants (PDAs) based on their own
product preferences without formal authorization or sup-
port of an IS department, and it may be some period of
time before an organization establishes a PDA or smart-
phone standard and/or implements policies appropriate
for this type of technology.
Organizations that invest heavily in resources to
support user computing, but implement minimal formal
controls and procedures (to be described later), have an
Accelerationstrategy. Their objective is to enable users to
acquire and learn appropriate computer tools and perhaps
also develop their own innovative computer applications,
with few constraints. In contrast, firms with a Containment
strategy opt to bring in new user technologies more slowly,
after specific controls are put in place, to minimize organiza-
tional risks. Business units can only purchase “standard”
computer tools unless they have received permission for an
exception, and stricter guidelines for tool usage and security
are heavily enforced.
TheControlled Growthstrategy (high expansion,
but also high control) is the most mature approach, and is
common in many organizations today. The arrows in
Figure 13.7 depict three different ways that organizations
may move to a mature, “balanced” approach. However,
even organizations in this mature stage need to select a
different strategy when implementing newer user tech-
nologies. For example, many organizations initially took
an Acceleration approach helping users develop Web
pages for organizational intranets in the late 1990s, and
then introduced more restrictive approaches as they
would for a Controlled Growth stage (Jordan, 1997).
Other organizations, however, chose a Containment
strategy: From the start, they established a committee to
develop rules for Web page content and a standard “look-
and-feel” format for all Web pages. Still other organiza-
tions have taken a more middle-ground strategy from the
start (shown by the dotted line in Fig. 13.7) for a new
technology in particular. For example, an organization
may begin with a pilot implementation of a new technol-
ogy (e.g., a specific instant messaging tool) that involves
just a subset of users to help the organization learn what
support services and control policies are needed, and then
it rolls out the technology across the entire organization
with a set of support services and control policies in place
that eventually evolve to a Controlled Growth strategy.
A critical success factor for effective user support
is the staffing of the support unit—which can include in-
ternal personnel, external service providers, or some
combination of the two. In the early 1990s, an internal
typical staffing ratio was one support member for each
100 PCs, but ratios as low as 35 staff members support-
ing 10,000 users have been reported (McNurlin and
Sprague, 1998). As with other personnel responsible for
customer services in general, support staff for computer
users need to have not only knowledge about the tech-
nologies being used but also the ability to relate well to
business users.
Today’s more proactive approaches to user support
typically involve both IS and business managers working
together to best leverage investments in technologies for
business users and support personnel. For example, it is
not uncommon for “power users” in business units that
have experience in developing sophisticated applications
for decision support to be hired away by an IS department
to provide consulting and troubleshooting support for
other business users.
Providing quick turnaround time in response to user
requests is a typical key performance metric. Different
support “levels” are typically established in consultation
with business unit managers, and different types of com-
puter problems will have different maximum time periods
in which they should be solved (see Figure 13.8).
No matter what strategy is adopted, all organi-
zations need to design an appropriate set of support serv-
ices and control policies to help realize their strategy
for user support. Next, we discuss some typical support
services, followed by a discussion of control policies and
procedures.Support Services for Computer Users
A list of common support services is provided in
Figure 13.9. One critical service is help desksupport,
which the user typically accesses via a telephone number.