IT Reliability for Ensuring Performance of IT Used in Organizations Operating under Covid-19 Epidemic Crisis

The article concerns the analysis of elements building the reliability of IT solutions used in the organizations (system reliability, usage reliability, information reliability and support service reliability) and their influence on IT performance in conditions of the crisis, which calls for social-distancing and forces employees to work remotely, putting IT performance at the centre of attention for organizations seeking ways to survive the crisis The article aims at verifying the IT Reliability Model under such conditions and identifies which elements building the reliability of IT solutions may contribute to ensuring IT performance The empirical study is performed among 115 organizations operating in Italy during the COVID-19 epidemic crisis in March 2020 (during the lockdown and peak of the epidemic) The results are compared with a previous study performed among 349 organizations from Poland and 288 organizations operating in Switzerland operating under normal conditions in January 2019 The obtained results confirmed that there are major differences in the strength and significance of the influence of four elements building IT reliability on IT performance among employees from organizations working under normal conditions and conditions of epidemical crisis The usage reliability and support service reliability were proven to become key factors influencing IT performance under such critical conditions Implications for Central European audience: Central Europe was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and most of the organizations experienced problems with their functioning due to the need to establish new ways of working in a world of social distancing rules Information technology became an especially important factor allowing them to remain continuity Therefore, the analysis of factors influencing its performance during the crisis may help contemporary organizations in Central Europe to overcome the crisis caused by the sudden need to relay, more than ever, on information technology © 2021 All Rights Reserved