The evolving role of IT in business : From data entry to strategic planning
In the present information age, Information Technology (IT) has evolved as a crucial element of the infrastructure of an organization. From a routine data entry and automation applications to a high-level specialized enterprise applications, IT finds its place as a strategic tool in organizations. This article discusses how IT has evolved in its role in organizations over the last few decades, and the emphasis on the need for IT planning, alignment of IT plans with business strategy, and management of IT resources for generating better results.
Historically it can be seen that the cycle of development of any technology follows a typical pattern of initial development phases characterised by innovationslow initial adoptionselective usage (on ad hoc basis) with a limited spectrum of applications, to a matured phase characterized by commoditization of technologyrapid adoptionregular usage with wide spectrum of applications.
The advent of Information Technology (IT) also shows a similar pattern, and has brought in tremendous change in human life by becoming available, affordable and accessible to just about everybody. In the past decade, IT has been the most important resource for generating new possibilities of business innovations and resource optimization in the corporate world. What was considered as a means for automization of mundane processes has evolved into a strategic weapon for today's business organization. No organization can imagine their existence without IT in this digital world. This article looks at few aspects of IT in today's organization.
Today, IT is ubiquitous in the business world providing much required steam to run the engines of global businesses.
IT intervention in business has redefined the business approaches, economic models, trading partners' relationship, and functional frameworks of business organizations in this hyper-competitive world. Changing the landscape of competition, IT has opened new vistas of business opportunities and challenges. Businesses world over are embracing IT as a strategic tool to gain competitive advantage and to build future competencies. As such, a chunk of corporate investment goes into acquiring IT capabilities and building IT infrastructure.
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