Understanding IT Acquisitions

IT acquisition processes are mostly organization specific and there is not enough evidence to establish that a successful acquisition process adopted in an organization would replicate the same scenario in another, but it is experienced that such predictability can be assured to a possible extent if organizations follow some best practices. Research in IT acquisition processes indicate varied results, and there are various models to address overarching issues related to IT acquisition processes showcasing IT preparedness in the organization. This chapter discusses various approaches pursued and models evolved in the area of IT acquisitions, processes to work on the preparedness of the organizations in managing IT infrastructure acquisitions, and their life cycles. This chapter includes discussions on models available for assessing the IT acquisition process, understanding organizational issues, capturing and analyzing user behaviour, and analyzing usability of the IT resources. Various models are also evaluated to understand their roles in capturing capability of the IT users in the organization, IT service providers, and component developers who participate in the acquisition process.