Orchestrating digital technologies with incumbent enterprise systems for attaining innovation

Abstract

In the late 1990s, most organizations adopted enterprise systems (ES) to automate their core business processes. The very same organizations are presented with a new wave of opportunities to innovate with digital technologies—technologies that purport to have diametrically opposed characteristics to ES. This study explores how organizations integrate digital technologies with their incumbent ES for attaining innovation. The study followed a qualitative approach and gathered data from four organizations consisting of six such projects. By applying a unique theoretical foundation, this study derives interesting insights into the orchestration process of ES and digital technologies for attaining innovation.