Our discussion of peer-to-peer file sharing illustrates an important phenomenon that applies across the full spectrum of IS applications. Every IS application brings challenges and risks along with benefits. I call this the Law of the Double-Edged Sword. Note that P2P, by enabling every PC on a network to act as both client and server, brought the benefit of avoiding bottlenecks (which occur when excess demand for music or video files strains servers located centrally or on only a few nodes), and introduced an easy, non-commercial approach to file sharing. However, it is quite clear that P2P file sharing also introduced ways for users to violate intellectual property rights by essentially stealing music and video files – an ethical breach. While P2P is a great way to share open-source music or video files, as well as to increase the portability and usability of music files that are legitimately owned, it is also a way to avoid paying for music and videos, depriving musicians, studios, and others of their rightful share of profits. Also, reports of hacker attacks and worms that propagate across these P2P networks again illustrate the Law of the Double-Edged Sword.
It seems that every day, somebody announces a new IS application. Early in my career, in the eighties, the personal computer was a new phenomenon that brought such new capabilities as word processing, spreadsheets, and enduser databases, as well as new risks, such as flawed decision-making based on poorly designed spreadsheet models, inconsistencies in data that were not centrally managed, and viruses that spread from one PC to another. In the nineties many companies invested in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in hopes of speeding up business transactions and improving the transparency of business processes. They did get these benefits, but new challenges were introduced, including less flexible business processes (since now the process had to conform to the software), issues related to heavy reliance on the ERP vendors, and other challenges that helped confirm the Law of the Double-Edged Sword. Some new IS application categories in recent years include wiki’s, blogs, mashups, and widgets. Each of these has already given rise to stories of success, failure, and challenge. Next year other applications will inevitably be added to the list. Every one of these categories of IS applications brings both opportunities and challenges for individual users and for corporations, consistent with the Law of the Double- Edged Sword. Thus, employees and managers need to realistically assess each new application that comes along. Sometimes people focus only on the good side, and fail to adequately prepare for the inevitable challenges. Other people focus only on the risks, and fail to harness the potential of the new technology. Either approach falls short of effectively managing IS. Only by simultaneously considering both sides of the Double-Edged sword can managers expect their organizations to realize the awesome potential of new technologies.
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