Getting the Most Out of Your First Computer System

Since the early 1970's there has been a tremendous growth in the use of mini-computers and micro-computers by small business. Tens of thousands of firms have acquired computing systems in an effort to improve their operations and better serve their customers. Unfortunately, in many cases, these systems have not worked as well as they should have. Most of the published literature concerning small business has been prescriptive in terms of describing how a firm should select, acquire, and implement a new computer system. Very little has been done of an empirical nature concerning the frequencies of success or failure or the reasons for success or failure of these systems. This paper describes a recent study which attempts to determine how successful these systems have been and further tries to identify some of the reasons why these systems have failed. Variables that were found to affect the successful implementation of computer systems fell into three categories: 1) the design of the software programs; 2) hardware problems; and 3) the implementation process. Each of these groups of factors will be discussed, in an effort to assist other first-time computer users in avoiding implementation problems.