I.S. research of business practices: Many, one or zero academic disciplines?

This paper discusses the identity crisis in the Information Systems (I.S.) academic discipline. It reviews how Kuhn's concepts of paradigm and (normal) science apply to I.S. and argues that I.S.'s scope is too broad and too disconnected from practice. The paper proposes that I.S. become a professional discipline, guided by issues faced by practitioners, e.g., Chief Innovation Officers. I.S. research would center around the management of provisioning, operation and maintenance of I.T. Similar to other professional fields (e.g., medicine), I.S. researchers would be practitioners. The paper concludes with a sample of important research questions for I.S. as a professional discipline.