Barriers to implementation of IT in educational institutions

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most significant barriers to successful implementation of information technology (IT) in higher educational institutions (HEIs) of India. Although, educational institutions are investing in IT, they have been not been able to leverage it the same way as other business organizations. The present investigation will assist the management of HEIs to distinguish the key barriers affecting productive IT implementations and further take appropriate measures to deal with it.

For the purpose of the study, focus group and semi-structured interviews were conducted with academicians, administrators, functional heads, and IT staff from various HEIs of India. This research attempts to discover the major barriers to successful implementation of IT in HEIs using an interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methodology. Furthermore, structural analysis and classification of barriers is done using MICMAC analysis.

The results identified the key barriers that if dealt with can help overcome or lower the effect of other barriers preventing successful IT implementation in HEIs. It will provide roadmap to managers and administrators of HEIs to take appropriate measures to overcome the major barrier to effective implementation of IT.

Several authors have been studied barriers to implementation of IT in industry and educational institutions, but none have found the most significant barriers that affect successful implementation of IT and may drive other impediments. This research draws inspiration and is being carried out for Indian HEIs.