Student Projects:Does IT Matter

Does IT Matter?

Member List

Joanna Muench, Diana Bullion and Erik Jansen

Project Synopsis

In 2003, Nicolas G. Carr, business consultant and former editor of the Harvard Business Review (HBR), published a provocative article titled “Does IT Matter?” in the May issue of HBR. A year later he expounded on this original article in a book of the same name. In his article, Carr offered the observation that IT, which he defined as “all technology, hardware and software, used to store, process or transport information in digital form,” had become so ubiquitous that, rather than a strategic business resource, it has become a commodity.

Carr based his supposition on observed parallels with earlier technology adoption cycles including railroads, telegraphs and electric power grids from the mid to late 1800’s. From this, he concluded that the IT build out was largely complete and had transitioned from propriety to infrastructural technology. Therefore, Carr concluded, IT should be managed principally as a risk rather than an opportunity. Specifically, Carr recommended reducing IT expenditures, following rather than leading new technologies, and paying particular attention to managing existing risk.

Carr apparently touched a nerve in the IT business community no doubt following closely on the heals of the dot-bomb era when IT spending had already suffered extraordinary declines. The storm of controversy came from many quarters of IT industry (less so from business users) and focused on Carr’s definition of IT, whether IT was in fact commodizied, and the strategic implications of Carr’s recommmendations. Unfortuntaly, the counterclaims ranged from thoughtful to nearly religious, contrite to vitrolic, and largely served to confuse those who most need to understand Carr’s suppositions and decide whether a strategic change in their IT policy is warrented. It is for these policy decision makers this paper is written.

Full Synopsis: Student_Projects:Does_IT_Matter:Synopsis