Third-party development for multi-contextual services: on the mechanisms of control

The increasing adoption of nomadic devices and the associated use of information in numerous use situations pose new challenges for the ISD practice; handling the development of such multicontextual services covering a broader vignette of users, devices and use situations than typically associated with ISD. Recently organizations have started tapping into development resources in large networks of third-party developers. Such development is enabled through the use of software platforms where developers through boundary resources, such as APIs, may access and extend functionality in new ways. Yet, studies on how organizations are able to control this type of development remains scarce. By synthesizing theory on control and boundary objects we aim at putting a new perspective and gain a greater understanding of how organizations attempt to control such development efforts. As an illustration, we draw upon a case study of a public transportation company which through deployment of a software platform is provided access to a large body of third-party developers. We use this case to study the measures taken to control development.