Strategic IT Systems? There Are None

Computerworld - At a recent IT conference in Edmonton, Alberta, I had the opportunity to be on a luncheon keynote panel with Nicholas Carr of IT Doesnt Matter fame, along with another active CIO and a former IT researcher.

The initial question that we each were asked to address was this: What is the role of IT? Is it a strategic resource that enables an organization to differentiate its products or services, or is it merely a cost of doing business  an essential part of the organization but one focused on cutting costs and reducing risks?

Carr spoke before I did. He talked about how IT is essential but not strategic, since companies can no longer gain competitive advantage from computer systems because most are using similar software and thus cant differentiate themselves through technology.

I took a very different position, though in a very narrow sense I agreed with Carr. I dont believe IT systems are strategic. All strategies must start with the business strategy. But a business strategy without tactical support is like a general without an army. Once the company has decided on the strategy, then each department, including IT, must decide how it will execute the strategy. These discussions will result in the tactics that will bring the strategy to life.

Some strategies will require a large portion of IT tactics; others, fewer. In all cases, however, the resultant strategy is a business strategy, not an IT strategy. Using this proc­ess, incidentally, is how companies can be sure that IT stays aligned with the business.

In my mind, its foolish to suggest that IT or any other department doesnt matter. All are there to do one thing: work together to enable the company to gain competitive advantage. How they tactically perform that job, whether by means of existing software or custom work, is a function of the strategy.

I would suggest that if the strategy requires the systems to operate differently than those available on the market, then IT must develop custom code that will satisfy the strategy. IT should not force the strategy to change to accommodate existing software.

The IT industry must take a stand on this issue. As writers and pundits travel the conference circuit and preach their visions of the future, we must pay attention, understand the threats that are being suggested, and make our voices heard.

If corporate leaders believe that IT is going to become so easy and canned that the users will be able to run the technology, we will continue to see IT departments reduced and outsourced and offshored and treated like the utility that is envisioned.