The Costs of Switching Software
Aired March 11 and 12, 2000
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This is Internet On The Air. I'm Joan Silvi. Software in organizations
– is new always better? Details in a moment.
Funding Credit: Internet On The Air is a production of the University of Michigan
School of Information and Michigan radio, made possible by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation.
When it comes to computers, people want speed and lots of memory. Physical hardware is
replaced every few years to keep pace with memory demands of new software. Organizations
also shoulder training and technical support costs with every new operating system or
desktop application. These costs are low for "off the shelf" products, such as
the latest version of Word. But for software that is developed for an entire enterprise,
these investments are considerable. When employees rely on applications to get their work
done, switching software carries a high price tag.
John King, Dean of the University of Michigan School of Information, researches the
effects of embedded technologies in organizations. He analyzed computer use in the Los
Angeles Criminal Courts, where 600,000 felony cases are processed each year. Staff rely
heavily on the information system to coordinate administrative details, since a mistake
can mean releasing the wrong person from the county jail.
The courts use software that requires a lot of "tweaking" to function
effectively. But the county’s initiative to develop and implement new software, at a
cost of $26 million, ultimately failed. Why? The software design was not able to capture
complicated work processes. User needs were too highly varied to include in one software
application. Even though the old system is theoretically inadequate, people are able to
get their work done. New software can make life easier, but sometimes working around the
problems in an old system can be less costly.
To learn more about the Los Angeles courts, listen to an interview with John King at www.iota.org. For Internet on the Air, I’m Joan
Silvi.
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