Problems in the interplay of development and IT operations in system development projects: A Delphi study of Norwegian IT experts Jon Iden a,⇑ , Bjørnar Tessem b , Tero Päivärinta c a Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Helleveien 30, N-5045 Bergen, Norway b Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway c Information Systems, University of Agder, Norway article info Article history: Received 23 March 2010 Received in revised form 1 December 2010 Accepted 1 December 2010 Available online 14 December 2010 Keywords: System development IT operations Interplay Problems The Delphi method abstract Context: The assumption of the presented work is that the ability of system developers and IT operations personnel to cooperate effectively in system development projects has great impact on the quality of the final system solution, as well as on the service level of its subsequent operation. Objective: The present research explores the interplay of system development and IT operations and the challenges they are meeting. We are especially interested in identifying problems encountered between these two parties in system development projects. Method: We identify and rank problems by using a ranking-type Delphi study. We involved 42 Norwe- gian IT experts and split them into three expert panels: system developers, IT operations personnel and system owners. We then guided them through the three phases of the Delphi method – brainstorm- ing, reduction and ranking. Results: A comprehensive list of 66 problems, organized into seven groups, is compiled. Through a selec- tion and ranking procedure, the panels found the following to be the six most serious problems in the interplay of system development and IT operations: (1) IT operations not being involved in the require- ments specification; (2) poor communication and information flow; (3) unsatisfactory test environments; (4) lack of knowledge transfer; (5) systems being put into production before they are complete; and (6) operational routines not being established prior to deployment. Conclusion: The sheer amount and variety of problems mentioned and the respondents’ explanations confirm that this interplay needs attention; the parties agree that they do not cooperate effectively in development projects. The results imply that IT operations should be regarded as an important stake- holder throughout several systems development activities, especially requirements analysis, testing and deployment. Moreover, such involvement should be facilitated by an increased focus on enhancing cooperation and communication. Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The development as well as the subsequent operation of infor- mation systems (IS) may involve a number of failures. Many have studied the reasons for this unfortunate situation, and lack of user involvement, incomplete requirements specifications and lack of resources are among the explanations frequently mentioned [1,2]. With a more general perspective, Lyytinen and Robey have argued that the incapability of the system development organiza- tion to learn from previous failures is a root cause of system devel- opment failures [3]. A few approaches to improve the likelihood of success of IS implementations have been suggested, such as software process improvement initiatives [4]; information, system and service qual- ity [5]; IT governance [6]; IT-business alignment [7]; and the abil- ity to take the social context [8] and organizational learning [3] into consideration. Furthermore, Peppard and Ward [9] argue that competence in delivery (including system development and IT operations) of solutions is essential. Studies have found that well-managed relationships between the stakeholders are among the enabling factors in system devel- opment success. For example, several studies address that the strength of the IT–business relationship has a direct effect on the outcome of a new information system [7,10,11]. On a different scale, as part of system development practice, the relationship be- tween the system developer and the user is found to be important. This recognition has spawned important topics like customer par- ticipation, human–computer interaction and usability [12–15]. Although academics recognize the importance of business and user 0950-5849/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2010.12.002 ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: jon.iden@nhh.no (J. Iden). Information and Software Technology 53 (2011) 394–406 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Information and Software Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/infsof