A Case of Information Systems Pre-Implementation Failure: Pitfalls of Overlooking the Key Stakeholders' Interests

This case study examines an often overlooked context of information system failures, that of preimplementation failure. It focuses on an Information Systems Development (ISD) project at a large public university that failed even before implementation could get under way. Specifically, it describes the vendor selection process of a proposed computerized maintenance management system. While the managers in charge of the project took great care to avoid commonly discussed types of information systems failures by emphasizing user involvement and trying to select the best possible system they could afford, non-functional requirements, procedures as outlined in the RFP, and the roles of relevant but relatively “hidden” decision makers during the preimplementation stage of the project were overlooked. This led to the termination of the project after an appeal was lodged by a software vendor whose product had not been selected for implementation.