Factors that affect the adoption of distributed database management systems

摘要

A distributed database management system (DDBMS) offers an organization the ability to centralize or decentralize its management of data. In this paper we examine how the likelihood of DDBMS adoption is affected by four organizational factors, drawn from previous research and a pilot study conducted by the authors: (1) centralization - decentralization of management decision making; (2) centralization - decentralization of the information systems function; (3) attitudes of top management toward technology; and (4) forces behind information technology selection. We surveyed the chief information officers of 500 companies selected from the top Fortune industrials and the top Fortune service firms. Our results demonstrate that the decentralization of decision making, the decentralization of the information systems structure, and the attitudes of top management toward technology explain the propensity to adopt DDBMS; the locus of responsibility for driving the selection of information technology does not significantly explain DDBMS adoption in the way we hypothesized. Understanding an organization in terms of these factors is important in assessing the organization's readiness to adopt DDBMS technology and ability to use DDBMS successfully upon adoption.