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By Ellen Pearlman
Strategic Thinker: Nicholas Carr
Credentials: Author of "Does IT Matter" and former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review, frequent writer for the New York Times, Financial Times, Wired and other publications.
Big Idea: Computing is turning into a utility and that is both good news and bad news for individuals and corporations
Book: The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google, published by W.W. Norton & Co., January 2008,
Blog: Rough Type
In May 2003 the Harvard Business Review published an article by executive editor Nicholas Carr called "IT Doesn't Matter"
A firestorm broke out immediately with the sides clearly defined: Some in IT were greatly offended by the article's very premise that since IT is now ubiquitous it no longer offers companies a strategic advantage. But others felt his article opened the door to serious discussion of the true role of IT in business.
Almost five years later, Carr has published a new book-"The Big Switch"-that takes his argument to a new level as he paints a mixed picture of the consequences of utility computing on individuals and businesses. This shift, he argues in his book, "promises not only to change the nature of corporate IT departments but to shake up the entire computer industry."
In order to understand fully the implications for CIOs, IT departments and the IT industry, I spoke to Nicholas Carr to get some more answers for CIOZone members.
Next Page: THE TRANSITION TO UTILITY COMPUTING
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