What IT Infrastructure Capabilities are Needed to Implement E-Business Models?

Authors

Peter Weill, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFollow
Michael Vitale, Australian Graduate School of ManagementFollow

Abstract

As firms integrate e-business into their existing businesses, they migrate from traditional physical business models to combined physical and virtual models. This shift increases the role of the information technology (IT) infrastructure because information and online transaction processing become more important. However, the large number of infrastructure investment options can easily overwhelm senior management teams. To help, we classify e-business initiatives by the building blocks they use (which we call atomic e-business models), and we ex-amine the main IT infrastructure services that four of our eight models need. The four models require surprisingly different IT infrastructure services, so categorization should help executives prioritize their IT infrastructure investments based on their business goals. At the heart of this prioritization process is the firm¡¯s IT governance process, which should ensure that IT knows of upcoming IT infrastructure needs early in the strategizing process.

Recommended Citation

Weill, Peter and Vitale, Michael (2008) "What IT Infrastructure Capabilities are Needed to Implement E-Business Models?," MIS Quarterly Executive: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/misqe/vol1/iss1/3