In May 2003, the Harvard Business Review published an article about the strategic advantage of information technology that raised a storm of controversy in the technology industry, the press, and in academic circles. In "Why IT Doesn't Matter," author Nicholas Carr argued that while IT was necessary for competitiveness, its widespread availability had rendered it a commodity that no longer offered a strategic advantage to businesses and other organizations. Carr's article touched a long-standing sore point within the technology industry: How do you prove the value — and return — of IT? For many months after Carr's article appeared, the debate over the value of IT could be heard at just about any industry conference. Proponents of IT, particularly those within the technology supplier ranks and those that benefit from them, argued passionately that IT could indeed provide advantages to an organization, if it were used properly and fully. Detractors just as passionately claimed there was scant, if any, evidence that organizations had truly created sustainable competitive advantage through their IT investments. Flash forward to 2008 and the debate over whether IT matters seems to have faded from industry discourse. The subject simply isn't heard anymore at conferences and trade shows. In fact, there seems to be greater faith today in IT as a more certain road to the future than ever before. The results of MA's new reader poll on manufacturing's business outlook for 2008, for example, clearly show the strength of that faith. Reconfirming findings in prior years' polls, a strong majority of MA readers, 55%, say top management in their companies believe that their investments in technology are providing some strategic advantage. Moreover, confidence in technology as an investment continues despite a drop in confidence levels about the economy itself. MA's new poll shows that only 39% of respondents expect the U.S. economy to improve moderately in 2008, but 55% say they expect to increase the size of their IT budgets nonetheless. Two other polls cited in our cover story this issue, by The Manufacturers Alliance/ MAPI and PricewaterhouseCoopers, also show the resiliency of technology investment value. Why is there such faith in IT, and is "faith" the right word to use to describe how manufacturers approach technology? I believe that most manufacturers see technology as a necessity today, not an option. The ability to achieve faster cycles, ever greater efficiency, more precision in what's built, and better accuracy in delivery depends upon technology and the information it can provide. Cost cutting isn't a growth strategy. But technology can be — if it is used well. And this is where the faith factor comes in. That leap of faith so many have made over the years is really a question of how well prepared organizations are — culturally, organizationally, managerially — to use technology to the fullest extent possible. Many made the investments with the hope that they would be able to absorb the technology and make it part of the fabric of their business. But this remains a long-term journey for most companies. The good news is that the industry is working on the problem at many levels. IT certainly does matter and will matter even more as we go forward into the future. After all, what's the alternative? What's your view of technology's value? Write to me at Dbrousell@thomaspublishing.com.