IT Management
Wired Magazine, 5/04: Want to Piss Off a CEO?
By Nicholas G. Carr
"IT Doesn't Matter." That was the title of an article I wrote for the Harvard Business Review about a year ago. In it I argued that information technology, like rail lines, electric power, and the telephone, would inevitably turn into a commodity input - a cost of doing business that all companies have to pay but that provides little in the way of competitive advantage. I went on to say that the commoditization of IT was already well under way.
The reaction was swift and hot. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dismissed my argument as "hogwash," HP CEO Carly Fiorina said I was "dead wrong," and Intel CEO Craig Barrett seemed compelled to rebut my thesis every time he went out in public. In surveying the responses to my piece, National Public Radio reported that the industry wanted, "metaphorically at least," to burn me at the stake.
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CIO Magazine, 5/1/04: The Engine That Drives Success
The best companies have the best business models because they have the best IT strategies.
BY DON TAPSCOTT
NICHOLAS CARR is once again grabbing center stage now that his new book, Does IT Matter? is hitting the bookstores. The book is essentially an expanded version of his provocative Harvard Business Review article in which he argues that IT has become a commodity—necessary for competitiveness but insufficient for advantage.
Carr argues that, in the past, companies such as American Airlines, FedEx and American Hospital Supply built their own proprietary systems to differentiate their offerings or lock in customers. Now that IT has become a commodity—a pervasive infrastructure—any company has access and any system can be instantly replicated. And therefore, he argues, any competitive advantage goes out the window.
Trouble is, his newly improved argument, like his original paper, is fundamentally wrong. Companies that heed his advice—don't spend; follow, don't lead—are doomed to mediocrity or worse.
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CIO Magazine, 5/1/04: The Argument Over IT
Author Nicholas Carr and CIO Editor in Chief Abbie Lundberg go toe-to-toe on the strategic value of IT.
ABOUT A YEAR AGO, the Harvard Business Review published an article titled "IT Doesn't Matter." It ignited a vehement and often acrimonious debate over the value of information technology. Since then, Nicholas Carr, the author of the article, has expanded on his original thesis that while IT's value will increase as it becomes more standardized and ubiquitous, "the ability of any one company to use IT in a distinctive way to gain competitive advantage will diminish until...it will make more sense to manage IT as a commodity input—something that is absolutely necessary but [that] isn't going to set you apart from competitors."
Carr has faced off with detractors in print and onstage, and this month sees the publication of his new book, Does IT Matter? the title of which suggests Carr may have backed off his original position a bit. (He hasn't.) Carr spoke recently with CIO Editor in Chief Abbie Lundberg to explore his conclusions and the assumptions underlying them, one of which is that all information technology is "infrastructure."
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Corporate Board Member Magazine, 4&5/04: How the Right Software Can Help Your Company Comply
by Randy Myers
High-powered computer programs are promising that they can ease compliance with key sections of Sarbanes-Oxley. But they aren’t cheap, and there’s stuff they can’t handle.
Kyle Didier, vice president of finance at Regis Corp., the world’s largest operator of hair salons—it has almost 10,000 of them—is placing a lot of faith in his company’s newest software system. So, by extension, is his boss, CFO Randy Pearce. You can count Paul Finkelstein, president and CEO of Regis, in that group too. The Certainty software Didier has purchased from Movaris Corp. is designed to help his company comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Didier estimates that Regis will spend $200,000 to $300,000 to install the software. That’s a relative bargain; companies with more complex operations are spending well over $1 million.
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Security
C|net, 5/10/04: Author leaves warning in latest Sasser worm
By Robert Lemos and Dawn Kawamoto
Antivirus companies discovered a fifth version of the Sasser variant this weekend, within hours of German police arresting an 18-year-old man who confessed to being the Sasser worm's author.
The latest variant, Sasser.E, was released a week ago, according to Microsoft. It attempts to warn people whose computers are vulnerable that their systems have not been patched for a widespread Microsoft Windows vulnerability exploited by the program.
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IBM
C|net, 5/10/04: IBM plans Web-based desktop software
By Mike Ricciuti
NEW YORK--IBM on Monday announced new software intended to take on Microsoft in the market for desktop business applications.
The new software, part of IBM's Lotus Workplace strategy, is a bundle that includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet and database applications aimed at business users. The package also includes server-based management software, as well as software to run productivity applications on handheld devices.
While Microsoft's market-leading Office bundle works only on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems, IBM's new software is designed to be distributed and accessed through a Web server and to be accessible from systems running Windows and Macintosh, as well as Linux and Unix, and from handheld devices.
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Optimism
Internetnews.com, 5/10/04: Offshoring Arrives on Wall Street
By Colin C. Haley and Susan Kuchinskas
Offshoring: U.S. IT workers reject it, U.S. IT companies embrace it. Now U.S. investors will weigh in on the topic as more tech companies prepare to test the markets for public offerings, including another on-demand software player.
PeopleSupport, a Los Angeles firm handling tech support from centers in the Philippines, filed paperwork today for an $86.25 million IPO. Shares will be sold on the NASDAQ market under the ticker symbol "PSPT." The filing does not specify the number of shares or price range.
The news came on the same day that RightNow, an on-demand software vendor, filed for an IPO that could raise about $60 million. The company's filing comes as another software-by-the-seat vendor, Salesforce.com, inches closer to its IPO and could help set the tone for how on-demand software providers are received by Wall Street and investors.
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