Does ICT really contribute to strategy in organisations or is it just hype ? Is it the fate of ICT to end up like any other necessary operational service like cleaning, security, utilities etc?
It have to be clarified is on which direction of ICT, is it more to IS or ICT only as a tool?
Because on Information system, big organisation mostly use it an think of it as a tangible and intangible assets. It is more to integrated all system around the organization from bottom to up.
Your questions sounds like that suggested by Nicholas Carr in his infamous article "IT Doesn't Matter" from HBR. Carr argued that IT is infrastructure technology like electricity in which competitive advantage disappears once everyone has it. This article has been decisively refute by John Seeley Brown. He argues in response to Carr that IT doesn't provide strategic value by itself, but rather achieves value in the way that it is implemented in the organization. Only when the organization has the managerial skills to recognize and integrate IT into the organization does it achieve any kind of strategic advantage. Additionally, IT is different from the other infrastructural technologies because it has been undergoing continuous change and has migrated through several different platforms. Through the wonders of Moore's Law we will see this evolution continue for some time.
I've include Brown's response to Carr's article in my post.
I have always believed in the strategic role of ICT in an organisation but i see ICT managers' profile going lower and lower day by day although the role of ICT is increasing in organisations.
We have came a long way from using ICT as tools to a heavier dependence and strategic application and integration with the business. This is indicated by the transformation of some king of digital firms so to speak. If a business seizes to continue without ICT, it just simply can not be considered as a tool you call upon when needed.
I think ICT is just a tool or enabler for organisations to achieve strategic goals. Many organisations can leverage on ICT of all sorts to achieve their purpose but how they leverage IT (business analytics etc) and shared information across departments that truly gives them a competitive advantage.
Definitely not a hype... My current research is somewhat trying to address this question with a little twist in thinking.
I personally believe ICT is in fact being used, depending on senior management's appreciation of ICT, as a strategic tool for organisational success. I have found that understanding levels of control in the context of business simplifies a number of ICT critical questions.
Your answer lies in how decisions drive or impact company policies and processes without ignoring the dynamic relationship that exists between policies and processes.
Consider this definition for instance, Information Technology Management is the process of organizing and controlling the integration of both tangible and intangible information technology (IT) resources into the enterprise in accordance with the enterprise’s necessities (Janssen, 2014; Rusu, 2014; Wilbanks, 2008).
This assertion shows just how crucial understanding both intangible and tangible IT assets is. Focusing on just one could quickly erode the abstract value of ICT on the other.
ICT is not just a tools, but it is one of strategic management methods to compete with other organizations, especially for medium to big enterprise. ICT that uses business intelligence system, ERP System uses ICT not only as a tool to process,represent current report or help decision support but use it as a visualization tools and prescriptive analytic to give suggestion of ineffectiveness function inside the organization. Can you imagine how can we organization sell something without knowing the market segmentation and market demands of a product through out social media. Most company at least put and effort to use facebook or twitter channel to learn that marketing point. Whose going to analyze it if we don't use social media analytic software.
The main challenge today is to bridge the gap between operational and decision-making systems.
http://caminao.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/events-meaning/
There is a whole bunch of literature on IT value (not all in response to the IT doesn't matter article) which seeks to show it does. The problem is the complexity of effects (how can we disentangle IT from other factors, for example is it investment in IT that creates value or the changes in processes that we have implemented as part of IT implementation) and time
Global research indicates that there is misalignment between IT and Strategy as per our research and lead researcher in the area Luftman. it is reported from many year. Please refer the IT management trends: An international study.
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