An examination of DBMS adoption and success in American organizations

Database technology has been available for over two and a half decades and yet widespread adoption has not occurred. This study examines a relatively mature IS technology in an attempt to understand factors that facilitate its adoption. Specifically, the maturity of the IS function and demographic characteristics are proposed as factors distinguishing adopters from non-adopters. The results of a survey of 288 American organizations are reported. The results indicate that the adoption of DBMS is consistent with several indicators of IS maturity, size, and industry. Additional results reveal that suggested database benefits are not being achieved by these organizations.