The impact of e-commerce on the role of IS professionals

Abstract

Understanding the knowledge, skills and abilities of information systems 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. This research addresses the question: in what ways has the recent ascension of Internet-based electronic commerce altered the competency requirements of IS professionals? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen participants from a variety of public and private organizations, who are currently participating or had participated in e-commerce projects. The findings indicate that the implementation of e-commerce in organisations has introduced three main types of business changes: expectations, perceptions, and compliance. These three changes have in turn driven project changes and subsequent changes in the competency requirements and role of the IS professional. The implications of these changes for IS professionals and the organizations for which they work are discussed.