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by David R. Brousell, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | The debate over whether IT really matters has faded from the scene as manufacturers embrace technology with even greater fervor than ever. |
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. [Click to continue] |