A Socio-Technical Approach to Manage Analytics-as-a-Service – Results of an Action Design Research Project

The ability to generate business-relevant information and its use for business process improvements is a key success factor for businesses today. Answering the call for further research on success-relevant practices and instruments for managing business analytics, we report on the results of a three-year action design research project at a global car manufacturer. Drawing on the socio-technical systems theory, we identify seven meta-requirements and specify four principles for the design of an instrument to manage Analytics-as-a-Service (Aaas) portfolios. Our results reinforce the importance of coordinating different socio-technical components in business analytics initiatives and demonstrate how concrete management instruments, such as the proposed portfolio management tool, contribute to socio-technical alignment. For practitioners, the documented design components may provide guidance on how to design and implement similar instruments that support the management of Aaas portfolios.