Affiliations: [a] Department of Information & Communication Systems,
University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece | [b] General Secretariat of Information Systems, Ministry
of Finance, Athens, Greece
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Dr. Euripidis N. Loukis, Agias Barbaras
77, Paleon Faliron 17563, Athens, Greece
Abstract: Extensive research has been conducted on the main issues that
organizations face concerning Information Systems (IS) management, in order to
exploit the capabilities of the rapidly evolving Information and Communications
Technologies (ICTs) to the highest possible extent. However most of this
research has been directed towards the private sector. The present study
attempts to contribute to the research of the critical issues of IS management
in the public sector. Based on 32 interviews with IS Managers of Greek Public
Sector organizations using a structured questionnaire, the main issues and
challenges that the organizations of the Greek Public Sector face concerning
the whole cycle of IS management are investigated. From this investigation it
is concluded that the most important IS management issue currently faced is to
hire 'New IS Human Resources', followed by the issues of 'Extending Use of
Office Automation' and of 'Management and Use of Data Resources'. The results
shed light on the profile of the modern IS management function, which has
become highly complex and multidimensional, containing many both technical and
non-technical management issues, which can be either internal or external to
the IS Unit. The results also show the highly horizontal nature of the IS
function: its success depends more on issues concerning its cooperation and
relationship with the other functions of the organization, than on issues
concerning its own functional expertise. From the study of the main expected IS
management issues after 3 years, it is concluded that about one third of the
main agenda currently faced by IS management is expected to change within three
years, confirming the highly dynamic nature of the IS management function. The
results of the present study were also compared with the results of previous
studies of IS management issues conducted in Greece and in USA. From the
comparison were determined both similarities and differences as to the main IS
management issues faced. Therefore some of the main IS management issues faced
by organizations are universal, while some others are specific to particular
sectoral and national contexts.
