Measuring technology flexibility

This research investigates technology flexibility, which is the technology characteristic that allows or enables adjustments and other changes to the business process. We develop dimensions and determinants of this phenomenon and demonstrate a methodology for the validation and the study of flexibility. The results of a test of software system flexibility are reported. Technology flexibility has two dimensions, structural and process flexibility, encompassing both the actual technology application and the people and processes that support and use it. The flexibility of technology that supports business processes can greatly influence the organization's capacity for change. Existing technology can present opportunities for, or barriers to, business process flexibility through structural characteristics such as language, platform, and design. Technology can also indirectly affect flexibility through the relationship between the technology maintenance organization and the business process owners, change request processing, and other response characteristics. These indirect effects reflect a more organizational perspective of flexibility.