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		What Does IT Mean?
		Greg shares his take on the now-infamous Harvard Business Review article "IT Doesn't Matter."
		by Greg Neilson
		11/4/2003 -- Earlier in the year, an article in the Harvard Business Review had IT executives very excited. With a title of "IT Doesn't Matter," you can imagine why this caught so much attention. What I'd like to do now is cover the main points of that article and suggest what this means for us working in this field. Despite the attention-grabbing title, much of what was mentioned in the piece isn't news to us. We already know that the IT environment has changed drastically since the days of Y2K, the aftermath of the dotcom crash and 9/11. System availability has already been a key focus, and with the threat of a recession, so too has reductions in IT spending. The main premise of the article is that since everyone now has IT, it can no longer be seen as strategic, in the same way that no one talks about strategic usage of electricity today. Instead, the main concern for managers today is over-spending in IT. It was suggested that this be done by: (a) spending less by critically evaluating spending (b) delaying investments until technologies are mature and standards are in place; and, (c) managing availability risks. Before we make ourselves depressed, keep in mind that this isn't saying that IT is worthless. To the contrary, it is so important to the modern organization that we need to plan to ensure its availability. But clearly, as we have seen over the past couple of years, the days of justifying IT expenditure without any detailed expected benefits are truly over and will never return. What I found most surprising about the reactions to this piece was the emotional tone. I didn't see a lot of mention of any recent case studies or ROI (return on investment) figures for IT. Instead it was if someone had dared suggested that Santa Claus didn't exist. You can be pretty sure that those that sign the checks in your company have probably either read this article or are aware of the issues raised within it. So it is in our interests to ensure that if this their current thinking about IT that we can work with them to achieve their goals. The focus on costs and availability are not new, but one interesting element is the mention of delaying technology expenditure until they are standardized or best practices emerge. This is poison for IT vendors, who thrive on having people deploying new technologies soon after release. Those embarking on early access programs or beta testing trials are going to have to work much harder to justify those expenses. The thinking in that article was that once these are in place, follower companies (who let the early adopters do all of the work and pay the project costs as well) can quickly leap frog over them and pay much less. Of course, this depends on someone actually doing this upfront work in the first place -- otherwise there will be no one to learn from! So despite the hand-wringing from the IT industry, that HBR article has probably much of what we had already been experiencing. What it also does is create a frame of reference that we can use to discuss IT issue in the future. As practitioners we need to have some understanding of the likely thinking of decision-makers and also talk in their language in order to give us a better chance of having future IT spending requests approved. It can also help us understand priorities and start us thinking on how we can achieve them. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts by adding your comments below.
		Greg Neilson, MCSE+Internet, MCNE, PCLP, is a Contributing Editor for Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine and a manager at a large IT services firm in Australia. He's the author of Lotus Domino Administration in a Nutshell (O'Reilly and Associates, ISBN 1-56592-717-6). You can reach him at editor@certcities.com Attn: Greg.

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There are 15 user Comments for “What Does IT Mean?” Page 1 of 2 11/7/03: IT means says: Indian Taking...as in Indians are taking everything now. This is just too much....http://www.msnbc.com/news/988503.asp?0cv=BA01 11/8/03: Positive says: scary 11/9/03: The Truth (MCDBA) says: Funny, no one seemed to mind when the "developed nations" (read: Western world) had all the IT jobs and lived in splendor. I've met many IT professionals from around the world who were always faced with the ugly phrase "why don't you go back to <fill in the country>?". Now, these very same people have and are prosperous in their home countries. Go India, and other "developing nations" (read: Everyone else), I say. This is simply an opportunity for all of us in the "developed" world to work that much harder at fighting for and securing our own jobs. Don't wait for corporations to give you a hand-out, they (like the "immigrants" we've spit on) are looking out for themselves. Carve your own road, kick down a few doors if you have to, and learn (study, certify, self-teach) what you will by any means necessary. The world has changed and if you don't adapt, career-wise, you are as good as dead. Period. 11/9/03: The Truth (MCDBA) says: All of this bloody xenophobia must come to an end and we IT professoinals in "developed nations" need to accept responsiblity for our own careers. Funny, no one seemed to mind when the "developed nations" (read: Western world) had all the IT jobs and lived in splendor. I've met many IT professionals from around the world who were always faced with the ugly phrase "why don't you go back to <fill in the country>?". Now, these very same people have and are prosperous in their home countries. Go India, and other "developing nations" (read: Everyone else), I say. This is simply an opportunity for all of us in the "developed" world to work that much harder at fighting for and securing our own jobs. Don't wait for corporations to give you a hand-out, they (like the "immigrants" we've spit on) are looking out for themselves. Carve your own road, kick down a few doors if you have to, and learn (study, certify, self-teach) what you will by any means necessary. The world has changed and if you don't adapt, career-wise, you are as good as dead-- this isn't India, Pakistan or any other "developing" nation's fault; ultimately we are all responsible for our own careers. Period. Stop the bloody bigotry and grow the hell up. 11/10/03: Kiss my a- - Truth says: Ok, so when you're laid off (even though you're highly certified, highly educated, and have a lot of experience under your belt) then you can come back and preach. Until then, kiss my a--! It's very easy to spread the rhetoric you're trying to spread when you're not worried about your house being taken away, you don't have a mountain of debt building up, you're not worried about where you're going to find the next meal for your kids, etc. Look, a--hole, you're the bigot because you're not sitting in the shoes of those who have lost practically all hope. Many of us have spent years learning, training, self-studying and for what; so that our jobs that we helped to develop can be outsourced? Go to hell you self-righteous SOB! 11/10/03: Right on!!! says: Couldn't have said it any better than "Kiss my a-- Truth" did...... 11/10/03: The Truth (MCDBA) says: The last two jack-- posts can kiss my a-- for assuming I'm on some high horse. The truth of the matter is that I have been face down in the dirt. I've been laid off after 15 hour days of working the IT "Penske" files (yeah, you Seinfeld fans know what that's all about). I've lost my home, had bill collectors hunting me down and had many a bank laugh me out the door for not being able to keep my credit standing up. I've been out of work for nearly a year at a time, and had more than a few doors slam in my face as well. At the end of the day, I had to accept responsibility. I didn't blame anyone else but myself, instead relying on others for my own livelihood or laying angst towards others I never met. I climbed the bloody mountain, and am proud that I did it all myself. If you take the time to READ my post, I'm only speaking out on self-reliance and not blaming some other nationality for your woes. We live in a "developed" society where bloody college dropouts can become billionaires in IT. For as long as you choose to work for someone else, unemployment shall always be a risk. If you try to open your mind, read between the lines (or some of my other posts), you'll find that you can be empowered by starting your own endeavour. Teach, help out, try something different, start your own business instead of waiting for the windfall to come. It's not easy, but anyone of us are capable. While you are at it, look up bigotry in the dictionnary, you may be quite surprised at what you'll find. If I'm the self-righteous SOB, then why am I the only one in this "conversation" to offer something constructive instead of crying bloody foul when someone else gets ahead? Now that we've managed to trade insults (for which I apologize for my own share), why don't we attempt to share helpful and insightful ideas instead? 11/12/03: well g'day mate says: You're a moron! Blah blah blah is all I see from you. What exactly did you post Truth that was remotely helpful? Get back to the outback.......... 11/12/03: Anonymous says: "The Truth"....well said. I truly hope that people stop blaming others and start taking some responsibility. Coming to the article I think the topic of waiting for the right standards to be set is more like the story of the egg and the hen. One depends on the other...kind of a deadlock. The only way out might be for some company/organization to start taking the risks but this time I am sure its going to be patented. 11/12/03: Anonymous from CT, USA says: The HBR article doesn't sound all that revolutionary. As a business owner I never want to pay more for anything than is necessary. Any extra I pay comes out of my pocket. Why should I spend money doing beta testing for the benefit if a vendor, if I don't see some advantage in it. Now, depending on the product, there may be some advantage to being an early adapter of a new technology, but the costs need to be justified. What I get out of the review of the article is that businesses want IT to justify costs and expenses. That just sounds like good business practice to me. 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