Incorporating the dimensions of sustainability into information systems projects

Abstract

Although research has been done on sustainability in project management, little or no research has been conducted on sustainability within the domain of information system (IS) projects. This article reports on whether IS projects are executed sustainably and whether they contribute to organisational sustainability. A questionnaire, completed by 650 IS project managers, was used to determine the state of IS project sustainability. The results highlight that sustainability is not integrated into IS projects and IS project managers do not consider organisational sustainability. IS projects tend to focus on the economic dimension, i.e. increasing productivity and profi ts, with no thought being given to the social and environmental dimensions. This article recommends that sustainability should be incorporated into project management and IS best practices. Accordingly, the way IS projects are executed should be re-evaluated in terms of their sustainability.

Key words: sustainability, project management, information systems, South Africa