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Why I.T. Matters
Anonymous Coward writes "Technology Review has an interesting story from the inventor of the Ethernet refuting the claim that IT has lost its strategic value." Our earlier story summarizes the original claim: that there's little to be gained by staying at the forefront of technology.
Some businesses need to ignore Carr's advice. Those who can afford it. I've seen (mostly during the .com boom) small companies invest ridiculous amounts in bleeding edge technology when they should have been focusing on building a viable business. Carr's article points out a lot of the faults that led to where we are now. He should be heeded.
Metcalf seems to talk around this point and I don't think he did a very good job debunking. IT _is_ moving ahead, but I don't feel that anyone has a good grasp on where it's going.
I am a "she", not a "he".
Honey, I shrunk the Cygwin
Can you remember the days when ATM was THE future of network? Now it's faded into a niche market. My company believed in ATM. Later it expended a lot of money to replace its ATM technology with FastEthernet, because the ATM vendors started to get out of the ATM market.
The adoption of new and non-consolidated technologies is a risky business. A company should do that just if it really matters.
If everyone can buy the same technology where is the advantage? In the deep pockets required for someone to try every new toy? The advantage is not in the IT, it is in the way it is used. The best and expensive guitar doesn't turn a mediocre guitar player into the best one.
That hurts.
In a somewhat related idea, how many people have gone with a lightweight install...possibly Linux-based desktops where all the data/accounting/CRM/etc. were done with web-based apps using something like java/jsp? (or LAMP if you think it's ready) Technically, all the stuff can be done from a web browser (Firefox) and most everything handled server-side.
With the open standards, you can have your jsp create OO.org files for mail merges, reports, spreadsheet files with pertinent data, mailing lists, fax lists, etc.
Thus those win98 boxen can get a facelift with Linux, still be functioning with e-mail and web. No real need to do the 2yr (or even 5yr) upgrade cycle. Yes, there's an initial cost in the other infrastructure, but in the long run, I see cheaper TCO...in maintenance alone!