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| Does IT Matter? Information Technology and the Corrosion of Competitive Advantage | 
| Author: Nicholas G. Carr
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (39 reviews)
Sales Rank: 136941
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2
ISBN: 1591394449
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.4062
EAN: 9781591394440
ASIN: 1591394449
Publication Date: April 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A necessary read and a great overview, but.... April 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is always difficult to write books about the interplay of business and technology. If you lean too far in either direction, you fall off the tightrope. Carr does a good job at abstracting and giving the macroeconomical view, but his weakness colaesces in "Managing the Money Pit". The overview approach does not work here, Sir. This is a place where volumes could be written. When should I, as an IT manager make targeted strategic investments, as oppossed to overall upgrades? Should I put on my rose-colored academic glasses and convert my server farms to Linux and outsource all my IT overseas? Generalization of complex issues that face people in this industry could be tough to swallow for some.
On a positive note, the relation of IT to past infrastructure technologies was brilliant. As a reader, I was insatiable when reading the historical similarities of railroads, electrical grids and other innovations of times past. Tying these examples together with those of the modern era to form direct patterns (instead of loose links) would do this book a ton of good. Expanding the "Money Pit" chapter and teaming up with some industry IT veterans to write it would add tremendous value to the reader.
 IT is about Distinctiveness March 5, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
You gain an advantage over your competitors by having or doings something that they can't have or do. This means that in the end business profits are based on you ability to differentiate yourself.
As IT becomes more and more a commodity it is only a natural economic fact that its ability to help your business differentiate itself will decrease.
This book is based on sound economic principles. It is not nice or sweet news, but if you are prepared for the coming commodity you will not be disappointed.
So, yes read this book and learn from history.
 verbose February 24, 2006
21 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is just an article from Harvard Business Review blown up into a book. Get the article reprint and save yourself time and money.
Putting a lid on IT's "irrational exuberance" January 5, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Carr provides a stirring indictment to the belief that IT brings with it the promise of competitive advantage. Instead, he posits that IT is merely a cost of doing business, cut in the same cloth as other innovations that once held a lot of promise like electricity and the railway system. Though no company can ever hope to operate much less compete without the above, its homogeneity and prevalence has somehow blunted its value.
The search for that elusive silver bullet has found CEO's bequeathing so much power to IT that a good number have expected it to rescue bad business plans. Carr mentions specific examples of IT's inability to mask business problems but rather makes them more apparent earlier.
One major point I find hard to believe is that the window of innovation for IT has closed. Though a lot of strides have been made, a lot of work is yet to be done. However, I fear that Carr would be proven prescient even seminal on this particular point in the short term. Though IT people continue to churn out the next line of killer applications, there is a danger that the customers may simply refuse to upgrade or purchase thereby sealing IT's fate as a commodity.
An interesting thought gleaned from the book is that IT (automation) frees people to do far more important tasks. However, what those important tasks are is not clearly defined. Granting that most tasks will be automated, it will lead to more unemployment, a surplus of products (assuming productivity rises because of IT), low prices and profits until the next new thing is discovered that will disrupt the balance once again. But this hasn't happened yet.
Though I don't agree with some of Carr's ideas, I believe it is good to read dissenting opinions on the future of IT.
Interesting December 29, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Carr contends that information technology (IT) has become a commodity. Thus, its costs are destined to steadily decline, it cannot provide a sustainable competitive advantage, but it can become a disadvantage if not utilized in a cost-effective manner to keep up.
Carr points out that software has extreme economies of scale - very expensive to develop, but very cheap to copy, and hardware has been declining in cost according to Moore's Law for years. He admits that IT can provide a temporary advantage (eg. American Airlines' SABRE reservation system; American Hospital Supply's ordering system), but these will soon be matched, and the cycle-time for replication is steadily shortening. Implication: Software will become increasingly outsourced, and thus common between users.
It is commonly thought that IT has brought great advances in productivity in recent years (eg. Greenspan is a public proponent). However, a McKinsey study found that productivity growth was almost entirely concentrated in only 6 industries (out of 59) - computer assembly, semi-conductors, telecommunicating, retailing, wholesaling, and securities brokerage. The study also found that small projects were much more likely to pay off than large. Implication: Focus on areas where IT can make a difference, and emphasize small steps.
Still another finding is that there was no relation between IT spending and results - the real driver for improvement was competition. Implication: Bodes poorly for automation in government.
So what does all this mean? Hardware and technology costs will continue to fall - thus, applications that are not be cost-effective today may become so tomorrow. (The most obvious potential is in coordinating between companies.) Small steps, combined with changes in how business is accomplished (eg. Wal-Mart, Dell) and small steps are most likely to succeed.
However, I must disagree with Carr about the competitive value of IT. While large customers (eg. G.E., G.M.) are increasingly outsourcing IT (to IBM, India, etc.), they are still focusing on refining and moving forward to competitive advantage - fleeting as it may be. Thus, one must not just be cost-defensive in IT use, but also aggressively looking for improvements in areas that matter.
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