Information technology organization part 1
In this class we will focus mostly on information technology organization and information technology strategies. In the previous class, we have discussed about the overview of what information technology can help the business to be more competitive. In this class, we will review the roles and the structure of an information technology organization and how those organizations become more strategic to the business.
The key things that happen today is the innovation and the changes in information technology are transforming the way the business conducted at a very very fast pace. Every business today must leverage information technology to create values. Because today every business are competing on a global market.
In previous class, some students have asked that “We are local companies, we work for local companies, and our companies are very small, and we do not do business in a global market. So do we really need information technology?”
My answer is “Yes, you will. Even your companies are very small, even your company maybe ten people or twenty people. If you do not grow, if you do not change, if you do not apply information technology, somebody else will come in and take over your business.”
That is what globalization is all about.
Let’s look into some countries, when you have a market. In many country, the market consists of hundred of small businesses. People are selling rice, people are selling meat, people are selling fish, people are selling vegetable. There are different businesses, there are different people. Okay. Those are the ways we do business for thounsands years.
But today, look at the supermarket, you have a company that operate a supermarket. In that supermarket, they sell everything, they have meats, they have rices, they have vegetables, they have foods, they also have all things too. And all of them is operated in one company and there is fully automated. The prices are cheaper, there are people there admin, are more efficient, everything else is computerized.
Let’s talking about the competition. When those supermarkets move into a country, all small businesses are disappeared. You see that happens in the US, you see that happensin Europe, you see it happens in Korea, in Japan, in China. It will happen all over the world.
So no matter what, the role of information technology will become very very critical in the next few years. Because every business will have to grow, every business must use information technology to create the value.
The changes in business also change the society. Because information technology has become so accessible to more and more people. Almost when you travel in every country, you have people with cellphones, you have people with computers, you have people with laptops, you have people with access to the internet. Today information technology already is changing the society. People want more and more and more things, more efficiently.
The businesses understand that information technology has played a very critical role and should be applied to reduce the cost by implement more and more information technology. Because you have to grow your company. If you don’t grow a company, you cannot compete.
Would you like to walk into a market with a thousand of people selling things. They are very noisy, they are very aggressive, their places are not very clean. Or walk into a supermarket, where it is much more cleaner. People are very very polite and the prices are much much cheaper, and higher quality.
So those are things that are changing the way people do business today in every country. So globalization has taken place very very fast. You cannot stop the progress, you must be a part of it. So either you use it now, or you will have to use it later. Because if you don’t grow and if you don’t compete, you will lose.
So the role of information technology is changing the way people do business today, in every business, not just selling but almos in every business. It is creating more and more business conditions and increase expectations of users. As more and more businesses are applied information technology, there is a need for the people with the understand of the technology, with the understand of the business, the people who can connect the business and the technology together and managing them, are called Information system management.
These are very important people that are creating value to the businesses, that can help transform the business, from a small business to a bigger business. It is the key thing for every business. Therefore information system management are the management role that now has a broader responsibility. Before it was managing technologies, but today managing technology and improving business so role of information system management also changes. Before managing only technology, that means managing computers, but now it becomes more strategic. They become a part of way people do business. Because information system provides the solutions to all of the business issues.
These are the people that will bridge the gap between the business and the technology. So the role of information system management has become very very critical in every company. So today we will focus on how do we create an information technology organization, and how do information technology people strategy, planning, putting things in place to create the value to the business.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
