As IT becomes increasingly commoditised, what is the future for the IT department?
Nicholas Carr’s 2003 assessment that ‘IT Doesn’t Matter Anymore’ prompted furious responses, not surprisingly, from leaders of IT industry. But the salience of his core argument – that the ubiquity and increasingly commoditized nature of IT has made it a ‘cost of doing business that must be paid by all but provides distinction to none’ – cannot be ignored by CIOs and IT departments. Indeed the proliferation of outsourcing and software-as-a-service seems to highlight IT as a commodity. As IBM’s study on the impact of outsourcing concludes: IT outsourcing is a proven business tool that other companies should consider to build better bottom-line results and please shareholders.
So what then is the future of the IT department? Demir Barlas of Line56 argues that as powerful as the idea of IT as a commodity is, ‘ some people will simply put it to better user than others.’ In this regard, the CIO and IT department become the distinguishing element of corporate IT. According to Gartner, by 2010 six out of 10 people affiliated with IT will assume business-facing roles but IT organizations in midsize and large companies will be at least 30 percent smaller than they were in 2005. What these trends imply is that while IT will continue to be an essential part of the organisation, the composition and scope of the IT department is set to change.
