This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Java Buzz
by Carlos Perez.
Original Post: Why IT Doesn't Matter Anymore
Feed Title: .:Manageability:.
Feed URL: http://www.manageability.org/blog/stuff/rssDisabled?portal_status_message=Syndication+is+Disabled
Feed Description: Random thoughts on the manageability of complex software.
A pretty provocative title don't you think? Well its the title of a recent Harvard Business Review article that explores this question. So, you might think because I'm an IT guy, I'm going to slam the article. Well surprise again! The author may actually be right on serveral counts! Read On.
Actually, I'm not going to agree with everything the author said. I'm just go to point out the insightful statements he made that hit the nail on the head.
First, the author makes an insightful obervation about switching to "defense":
Today, an IT disruption can paralyze a company's ability to make its products, deliver its services, and connect with its customers, not to mention foul its reputation. Yet few companies have done a thorough job of identifying and tempering their vulnerabilities. Worrying about what might go wrong may not be as glamorous a job as speculating about the future, but it is a more essential job right now.
a remark against Microsoft's licensing strategy and a promotion of open source strategy:
The time has come for IT buyers to throw their weight around, to negotiate contracts that ensure the long-term usefulness of their PC investments and impose hard limits on upgrade costs. And if vendors balk, companies should be willing to explore cheaper solutions, including open-source applications and bare-bones network PCs, even if it means sacrificing features. If a company needs evidence of the kind of money that might be saved, it need only look at Microsoft's profit margin.
Both are suprisingly insightful advice specially coming from a management consultant type. However, everything else in the article he got wrong!
I've got no arguments against balancing your IT budget by being conservative, purchasing what you really need and focusing on better manageability. However, the author is woefully wrong is in his premise. That is, because the core functions of IT—data storage, data processing, and data transport— have become commodity items and therefore the strategic advantage has been lost. The previous statement alone exposes the flaws in its myopic reasoning.
IT isn't about all about the tangible things that you can quantify, like storage space, cpu speed or bandwith. It's greatest value is the "digitization" of the business model and if you're fooled into thinking that that's a mature industry then you're reading too many marketing brochures. One only needs to look at all those stove pipe applications we see today, those monolithic ERP and CRM applications and those multiyear upgrade projects. One of the biggest problems today is how to rapidly weave them all together in a dynamic and robust manner.
The holy grail being a more adaptive and nimble corporation. A corporation that can leverage its IT resources to mitigate the risks of an extremely hostile and changing business environment. That is something today's IT hasn't truly acheived. That is the reason why the statement "IT does't matter anymore" is overly premature.
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