A feral information system is part of an information system developed by individuals and groups to help with day-to-day activities that is not condoned by management.Houghton, L. and Kerr, D.V. (2006). A study into the creation of feral information systems as a response to an ERP implementation within the supply chain of a large Government owned corporation. The International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, 4(2):135–147. It is called feral because it circumvents existing information technology systems or works around key system architecture.Kerr, D., Houghton, L. and Burgess K. (2007). Power Relationships That Lead To The Development Of Feral Systems. Australasian Journal of Information System, 14(2):141–152.
Overview A feral information system can be written for a variety of reasons. The general reason given is that they are ways of working around existing management information systems in order to support day-to-day work.Thatte, S. and Grainger, N. (2010). Feral Systems: Why Users Write Them and How They Add Value 5th Pre-ICIS workshop on ES Research, St Louis, USA. Feral information systems are sometimes referred to as shadow systems.
Reasons for feral information systems Reasons for feral information systems include: poor training practices in IT firms, inadequate systems, complex political relationships and a host of related issues. Research has linked feral information systems to poor operational planning.Kerr, D.V., and Houghton, L. (2010). Just in time or Just in case: A Case study on the impact of context in ERP implementations. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 16(2):5–16.
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