Edinburgh Napier University

  The very idea that a modern day organisation might operate effectively without computerised information systems seems almost absurd. Yet, the projects that provide these systems have an unenviable reputation for delivering poor results. Many OISD projects are late and/or over budget, while others fail to deliver the required functionality. Indeed, some deliver nothing at all. Not surprisingly, the cost of these failures is enormous. Yet despite nearly 50 years of research, understanding of the actuality of projects i.e. what really happens in real world projects, is very limited. In particular, little is known about the way in which various factors affect the outcome of OISD projects. Moreover, previous research has shown that perceptions of a project’s success varies not only by project type but by stakeholder group and by nationality. Yet, there does not seem to be any prior research that has addressed OISD success factors from a suppliers’ viewpoint or from a Scottish perspective. As such, this research makes an original contribution to knowledge by investigating OISD success factors from a Scottish suppliers’ perspective.