IT ecosystems: evolved complexity and unintelligent design

ABSTRACT

Modern enterprise IT systems consist of many specialized functional components, often designed by multiple vendors, interconnected in a plethora of permutations to accomplish different goals. An increasingly large number of technical specialists support these systems. Designers of system administration and management tools for these environments must address complexity issues arising from variations in system architectures and topologies, integration between new and legacy systems as well as internal processes and organizational culture. This paper describes aspects of variability within and between IT environments and discusses approaches for managing complexity.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.3 Organizational Impacts
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
      K.6.3 Software Management

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors

Keywords:
application development, case studies, complexity, ethnography, system administration, user modeling