1. Business Systems By
Don Phrompeng

2. What is an IT Department?
The Information Technology (IT) department manages the technology and computer infrastructure that drives an organization’s business system.
The IT department is also
known as Management
Information Systems
(MIS or IS) department.

3. What IT department does?
End-User Technical support
Desktop Management
Network Management
Voice and Data Communication
Business Application
Strategic Technology Planning

4. IT Doesn’t Matter
According to U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, the expenditures of American Companies went to IT.
1965 – Less than 5 %
1980 – Rose to 15%
1990 – Reached more than 30%
End of Decade – hit nearly 50%
Recently – Over $ 2 trillion a year on IT

5. Twenty Years Ago Computers were lowest class tools
For typewriting and as calculators
Best for low level employees like secretaries, analysts, and technicians

6. Today, that has changed completely
Chief Executive talk about information technology’s strategic value
They talk about how they can use IT to gain a competitive edge
They talk about digitization
of their business models

7. IT Job Positions Chief Information Officer or CIO
Business Systems Analyst
Programmer
Software Architecture
Network Administrator
Etc.

8. Proprietary vs. Infrastructural
Proprietary Technologies
can be owned, actually or effectively, by a single company
Infrastructural Technologies
offer far more value when shared than when used in isolation
IT is more categorized in this type

9. The end of Build-out phase
More competition
Greater capacity and falling prices
The technology broadly accessible and affordable

10. This is Vanishing Advantage
When a resource becomes essential to competition but inconsequential to strategy, the risks it creates become more important than the advantages it provides.

11. The Commoditization of IT
Commoditization can be considered as positive, in that it makes the good available to a broader audience, or as a negative, implying the cheapening of a class of “goods” in the philosophical sense.
IT is a transport mechanism because it carries digital information.

12. The History of IT in Business
Increased interconnectivity and interoperability
From mainframe time sharing to minicomputer-based local area networks to broader Ethernet works and on to the Internet

13. More companies will fulfill their IT requirements simply by purchasing fee-based “Web service” from third parties.
Mircrosoft
IBM

14. Statistics from BusinessWeek
During the last quarter of twentieth century, the computational power of a microprocessor increased by a factor of 66,000.
From 1989 to 2001, the number of host computers connected to the Internet grew from 80,000 to more than 125 million.

15. Internet World Wide Web
Over the last ten years, the number of websites has grown from zero to nearly 40 million.
Since the 1980s, more than 280 million miles of fiber-optic cable have been installed.

16. IT Build-out is closer to its end
First, IT’s power is outstripping most of the business needs it fulfills.
Second, the price of essential IT functionality has dropped to the point where it is more or less affordable to all.
Third, the capacity of the universal distribution network (the Internet) has caught up with demand

17. Fourth, IT vendors are rushing to position themselves as commodity suppliers or even utilities.
Finally, the investment bubble has burst, which historically has been a clear indication that an infrastructural technology is reaching the end of its build-out.

18. From Offense to Defense
What should companies do?
The companies should be willing to explore cheaper solutions, including open-source application and bare-bones network PCs.
A lot of companies have been sloppy in their use of IT such as with data storage, which has come to account for more than half of companies’ IT expenditures.

19. Also, the management should consider the key principles to ensure that information management activities are effective. The following key principles should be considered.
Recognize (and manage) complexity
Prioritize according to business needs
Provide strong leadership
Mitigate risks
Communication extensively

20. Work cited
Carr, Nicholas. IT Doesn’t Matter, Harvard Business Review At Large. May,