Nickname: D-C

Review: We've had the evil twin now lets roll on the advent of IS (information systems)

Date reviewed: Oct 29, 2006 12:26 PM

Nickname: KR

Review: The key to a winning business is proprietary know-how. This is what differentiates a business from its competitors and generates profits and growth. If IT can preserve and enhance this competitive edge then it becomes a strategic tool. However, IT as a commodity will only raise the common base level for all without producing significant differentiated benefits to individuals. In a chess game between two computers, each running the world's best chess-playing software, how can the result be any better than 50:50?

Date reviewed: Oct 24, 2006 11:35 AM

Nickname: DNJC

Review: I agree that IT itself rarely creates a distinct advantage for business. However, applications of IT certainly do. Businesses with IT knowledge are able to create advantages. Google's grid is one such advantage gained by smart people using commodity IT (PC/Linux) to create business advantage. Carr's argument needs to be refined. Declaring that IT itself does not create business advantage is about as insightful as saying Post-It's do not create business advantage. I would like a more sophisticated discussion of which aspects of IT knowledge and IT management create business advantage.

Date reviewed: Oct 21, 2006 11:48 PM

Nickname: paolo

Review: I don't disagree with Carr's point. The importance of IT is commensurate with the way it may transform the business. IT as an enabler of opportunities that significantly impact the P&L of a company is strategic IT. The rest is commodity, but the tendency to adopt common solutions to help companies interoperate remains the right one. I think there are a lot of opportunities for IT in innovating the operating model of companies and transforming business processes, but I agree it's normally only a very small part of the total IT budget spent by a company.

Date reviewed: Oct 12, 2006 8:00 AM

Nickname: HM

Review: Carr seems to be missing the point completely: IT is the blood oflive for all. It is pointless to argue its importance or its ability to differentiate a business from another. Any business will go out of business without IT. Will Carr be able to write anything for publication without any form of IT supporting his activity? IT is as necessary as electricity, automobiles, the telephone and so on.

Date reviewed: Oct 9, 2006 3:23 PM

Nickname: vedsen

Review: I wrote a critique of Professor Carr's article in my blog. This is the URL. http://thinkplank.blogspot.com/2006/07/does-information-technology-matter.html The 3 issues I have with the Carr approach are (a) IT is function, not a tool (b) its not homogeneous - especially across hardware and software and (c) with the number of projects going off the rails all over the world, it cannot be commoditized if it's still so hard to get right.

Date reviewed: Oct 6, 2006 9:42 PM