Technology is not the problem

When I teach my class on the management of information systems here at Biola, the first thing I present to the students is the concept of an information system being much more than just computers. My students learn on the first day of class that the five components of an information system are hardware, software, data, people, and processes. And it is the people and processes where information systems have the biggest impact on an organization. As I study how the Internet is used for ministry, I am becoming convinced that this breakdown of an information system can be modified slightly and used as a model for the implementation of Internet ministry. For a ministry to successfully implement a web presence, they must deal with three key areas: technology, people, and processes. And again, as with information systems, it is the people and processes components that are the biggest impact.

You can find books, blogs, vendors, consultants, and volunteers to help with technology. In fact, it seems as if everyone I know has an idea or is a self-proclaimed expert at one sort of technology or the other. And technology changes so fast that there is no way to always be doing the best and greatest of everything. Of course, technology is very important and a lack of good technology will get you in trouble, but it is not the key factor to success of an Internet ministry.

I am working with our church to develop a new web presence (to be unveiled soon). The technology we are using is suitable to our environment and is a huge step forward from our existing web site. As we are getting closer and closer to being ready to go live, though, I am getting more and more concerned that the people and processes will not be ready to go. I am finding that implementing technology is a whole lot easier that changing people’s work habits. Because of this, I have delayed the “go live” date of our web site by a month so that we can have adequate time to be sure that the people at the church fully understand their role in keeping the web site current and the existing processes can be modified properly so that the web site becomes fully integrated into the day-to-day activities of the church.

I think one of the biggest mistakes a ministry can make is to focus solely on the technology and the features of their web site and forget about who they are: the people who work in the ministry and the different tasks performed by the ministry. Both of these must be taken into account before any technological solution can become successful.

Tags: information systems, people, processes, Technology