IT Doesn’t Matter

Nick Carr

Questions

• What does Carr mean when he discusses a vanishing advantage? – What is the advantage one gains from

IT?

Questions

• What does the commoditization of IT mean? – What is a commodity? – How do you make a product into

something that is not a commodity?  – How does this Apply to IT?

Questions

• The examples of railroads and electricity seem to be similar to IT; are these analogies valid? – What is different about IT?– How is IT similar to these examples?

Questions

• What does Carr feel are the new rules for IT? – Do you think Carr’s recommendations

are strategies that firms should follow?– Is there are role for IT in innovation and

striving for excellence?

Generating premium returns on your IT investments

• What is IT Savy?– IT savvy refers to the planned, ongoing

use of a set of interlocking business practices and competencies that collectively derive superior value from IT investments

Generating premium returns on your IT investments

• How does a firm become IT Savy?• What is helpful about viewing IT through

the portfolio lens?– Successful IT portfolio techniques change the

conversation from technical to strategic considerations by applying a commercial lens to IT investments

• Why is this important?– the result is an allocation of IT assets that is

appropriate for the company’s circumstances.

Generating premium returns on your IT investments

• What are the elements of this portfolio?– Infrastructure– Transactional– Informational– Strategic

Generating premium returns on your IT investments

• What are the hallmarks of the IT-savvy company?

Generating premium returns on your IT investments

• How do firms match IT-savvy practices and competencies with the IT portfolio?

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• What has changed?

• Who has been changed?

• What caused the change?

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• What has changed? A new dynamic

• Who has been changed? Everyone

• What caused the change? Not just IT, but processes

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• The indicators in the research:– Concentration– Turbulence– Performance spread

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• So, when did all this happen?

• What is the underlying cause?

• How do they make it work?

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• So, when did all this happen? Mid ’90s

• What is the underlying cause? IT/productivity

• How do they make it work?Embedded in IT & Propagation

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• How do we see this evolve?

• Who is responsible for making it all work?

• What should the mantra be?

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• How do we see this evolve?It’s a self propagating cycle

• Who is responsible for making it all work?Managers, of course!

• What should the mantra be?Deploy, innovate, propagate…

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• Where will the next brilliant idea come from?

• So, is management out of the picture?

Investing in the IT that makes a competitive difference

• Where will the next brilliant idea come from?The masses

• So, is management out of the picture?Of course not; identify and propagate