Web-based information systems - innovation or re-spun Emperor's clothing

Abstract

The challenge of developing new systems with Web technologies has led many to take for granted that such Web-based Information Systems (IS) are by their nature, and in their essence, fundamentally innovative and different from conventional IS. This paper questions whether this is in fact the case. Assumptions of Web-related novelty pervade the academic literature, texts and sales literature where impressive claims are made for the potential of ecommerce and e-business information technology (IT) and applications. In this paper a number of closely related aspects of organizational Web-based IS are considered - the business context and the use of Web technologies, systems development and information systems theory. To assess whether Web-based IS are fundamentally innovative, features or aspects of each of these dimensions are critically studied. In doing so the author puts forward a number of revisionist perspectives. The paper concludes that much of what is claimed to be new about Web-based IS is often recycled, re-labelled or simply erroneous.