Impact of information technology investment in a selected small business in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

For this study, the researcher focuses on decision-making of IT investments in an organisation. The objective of the research is to determine how investment in IT affects decisions in the organisation and what IT investments enable decision-making in an organisation. Although the strategic value of IT investments has been addressed, practical guidelines to support the management of IT investment appear to be lacking that defines the problem. Semi-structured interview questions were used to collect data from 12 participants with the case a single organisation in Cape Town. The environment in which the organisation operates makes it suitable for a case study. The contribution of literature was important to the research to determine the current status of decision-making regarding IT investments. The findings validate a significant role that real-time data plays in supporting decisions in the organisation. Reporting based on the data could assist in improved planning, forecasting and in the long run, performance of the organisation with good investment in IT. The study revealed that the adoption of new hardware, network architecture improvement and the implementation of new databases influence decisions about IT investment. A recommendation is that the organisation take advantage of findings to focus on becoming more competitive in its environment. It is also suggested that more emphasis be given to the network platform and architecture before any decisions are made on any new application in the future. It can be concluded that the implementation of new hardware should form part of the strategic decisions.