It Doesn'T Matter
I. Executive Summary
Nicholas Carr’s article “IT Doesn’t Matter” sparked an interesting debate in 2003. He seems to be very critical of past money spent on IT investments. He believes that most of the money spent by businesses was risky bad investments. He mentions that a competitive edge in the past was gained from infrastructural technologies, today he sees these advantages diminishing. He believed IT no longer cause proprietary advantage. He says it should be considered a commodity; it should be part of the business infrastructure.
He mentions that proprietary technologies are more valuable when they are owned by a single company; infrastructure is more valuable when shared. Due to rapid commoditization the opportunity for creating value from IT often closes before proprietary advantages can fully be exploited. Carr feels that investments in IT are less likely to deliver a competitive edge to an individual company.
Another point he makes is about the widespread adoption of the internet based technology standards. He believes these standards led to new value-creating IT applications quickly becoming commoditized.
II. Strengths
There are strengths to be gained from making sound IT investments. In the past many executives were naive to the concept of Corporate Information Strategy and Management. They did not possess the necessary skills and tools that we have today. Strategy gives companies a competitive advantage. The benefits of IT will remain our present and future. What differentiates IT competitive advantages apart from other firms, is a company’s ability to effectively use strategy throughout its overall infrastructure. As new innovations of technology continue to arrive, it will continue to cut cost and improve production. I feel investments in IT will become more likely to deliver a competitor edge to an individual company.
Strengths to be gained from making sound...
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