Introducing It: Lessons from Case Studies of E-mail

Adoption and implementation of electronic messaging systems in large international organisations creates a number of non-technical problems. Based on results of case studies of organisational implementations of e-mail services these issues are identified and discussed, and the strategies employed to overcome them analysed. Subsequently, end-user issues related to messaging services are discussed. We examine the different degrees of user training and support offered, and the mechanisms in place allowing end-users to contribute to subsequent service developments and enhancements. We conclude with recommendations for tackling some of the problems observed.