Adoption of systems development methods and techniques: experiences of Bruneian organizations

Summary form only given, as follows. A wide spectrum of methods and techniques are currently available to aid the information systems (IS) development process. The benefits offered by these methods and techniques are also widely documented in the IS literature. Despite their publicity, several studies reported slow adoption of IS development methods and techniques within US and European organizations. However, little information is known about how these methods and techniques are being practiced within Bruneian organizations, and how successful they have been. A study was thus initiated that employed a survey approach and gathered the perceptions of Bruneian IS personnel towards a set of popular methods and techniques. Thirty six organizations out of sixty participated in the survey. Two thirds (67%) of the participating organizations reported adoption of at least one method to develop their information systems. Even though it appears satisfactory for a newly established small country like Brunei, the use of individual methods, particularly the well known ones like SSADM, and information engineering method is lower than expected. Another startling finding is the very low usage of structured methods. The use of emerging object oriented design is also limited. Surprisingly a substantial proportion of the organizations was found to use in-house methods. The implications of these findings are discussed. These findings are also compared with those of other studies and several suggestions are offered.