Defining Information Technology

What is information technology (IT)?

This seems to be a very easy answer. If you look it up on Google (google it), then you might find the following (depending on current ranking and web URL linkage): IT is about computers. IT uses information. IT delivers information.

My view of IT has always been different than the majority of the world. To me IT is not all about computers. It is not all about repair/support/provide computing services.

If IT is not about providing computer related services, what is it about?

Well, we need to first examine to see if we are talking about the same IT. The IT I am talking about is the discipline of IT. It is not about a specific information technology or a group of information technologies. I am referring to IT not a group of technologies that are related to information, but as a field of study that create and improves on the way data can be transform into something more valuable. Other common disciplines are Astrophysics, Applied Mathematics and Computer Science.

IT as a field of study

If you view IT as a field of study, as a discipline then we are looking at the same IT. This IT to me is a systematic study of all things concerning information technologies with the goal of advancing knowledge in this discipline. This is a circular definition, because I define IT using similar terms. Although Information Technology is not the same as an information technology, they are similar enough that people confuse the two.

To clarify, IT is a field of study, while information technology is just a procedure that process data. Computer Science is a field of study, while the act of coding is a sequence of actions that produces software applications.

Lets us examine a specific information technology: word processing. The technique of word processing describes a method to add, modify and delete text. Implementing this technique, we code a piece of software that enables us to add, modify and delete words for example, Text EditorA. Notice that the result of applying the information technology is the Text EditorA. The technology itself is not the Text EditorA.

Although IT hardware and software are the indispensable tools of an information technologist, they are still tools. The current popular definitions of IT relegate IT professionals to be creator and caretaker of IT tools and not the provider of value adding services. IT is almost an after thought, only comes into focus when it fails. By segregating the IT practitioner from the value adding activities, many organization are doom to failure because of reliance on products designed by a none IT individual who can't fully utilize the power of current information technologies and produced by an IT professional who don't understand the value adding activities.

IT is more then support; it adds values

Since current paradigms have misplaced the importance of IT, why are many companies still successful? The answer is very simple, successful companies give its employees the ability to perform value-adding activities. Lots of those activities will involve implementation of information technologies. These implementations are important to the well being of a company, which make the people servicing them to gain importance. However, the important part is still the application logic.

Why is Wal-Mart so successful? K-Mart was bigger and had more locations. How did Wal-Mart raised up and dominate the retail market? The difference is not in the computer related technologies. The competitive edge is based in the true IT. The value adding activities performed on data are the reason that Wal-Mart was so successful. Part of it was due to computer related technologies, but K-Mart had access to those too. K-Mart just did not choose to implement the value adding activities.

Google was able to dominate the search engine market partially due to the implementation of the distributed database on low cost PCs, but it was the concept of ranking the importance that pages that draw the people to it. Sure Google cuts cost using the low cost PC, but its ability to return relevant hits was the real reason that Google was so successful.

Problem with the way things are

So what does this have to do with the definition of IT? If industries continue to segregate IT professional from value adding activities, then a lot of waste and inefficiency will be the result. If we direct IT curriculums toward more hardware/software based and treat IT as a program that are used to support information technologies, we are focusing our energy at the wrong juncture. Doing this is like training a lot of mechanics to repair cars instead of investing in improving the vehicle design.

Industries needs to integrate IT by training the people in charge with the current IT, not trying to hiring someone else to do the design. The actual IT activities must be done in house. These activities are the bases of a company. They form the competitive edge of a company, if you leave them to others, then you are placing yourself at their mercy.

Companies may think that they have successfully outsourced their IT. However, the only part that they can really outsource effectively is the computer related services and support. The real value-adding portion cannot be outsourced. This part has to stay within the company, because it is the way company operates. It is the part that cannot be learned without on-site participation. When situation changes, the outsourced IT will become inefficient and needs to adopt. However this adaptation will occur must slower than companies that has the IT in house. If this change in efficiency is not monitored and detected then the company may lose more than it gains by the outsourcing. This is a classic example of over optimization of a sub module (The cost saving of outsourcing IT) causing the entire system to achieve lower efficiency. Often times we see large companies cutting IT staff to save money, because the value adding services of IT is not readily measurable. After a while the IT system and infrastructures become unmanageable, because the low staffing level and constant call for service put the IT department in a firefighting mode. Once this has occur, it becomes very hard to identify problems and impossible to improve value adding services.

Definitions: (5/12/2006 - whatcanbe)
Information Technology (IT) is the discipline that systematically studies methods and processes that increase the value of data and structured data by processing, generating, and/or delivering the result to the right person in the right place at the right time.



References
techweb.com: http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm.jhtml?term=IT
IT (Information Technology) Processing information by computer. IT is an umbrella term for the entire computer industry and its latest moniker, which took hold in the 1990s. It actually took 40 years before the industry settled on what to call itself. First it was "electronic data processing" (EDP), which was followed by "management information systems" (MIS) and then "information systems" (IS).

webopedia.com: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/IT.html
IT - Short for Information Technology, and pronounced as separate letters, the broad subject concerned with all aspects of managing and processing information, especially within a large organization or company. Because computers are central to information management, computer departments within companies and universities are often called IT departments. Some companies refer to this department as IS (Information Services) or MIS (Management Information Services).

whatis.com: search390.com Definitions - IT
IT (information technology) is a term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived). It's a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called "the information revolution."


rice.edu: http://www.rice.edu/it/vpit/mission.html
IT Tasks

• Work with the Rice University community to identify and deliver quality service and solutions that meet the information needs of the University.
• Provide leadership and planning for the effective and informed use of technology and the thoughtful exploration of new technologies.
• Create, communicate, and implement rational funding models for information technology initiatives and services.
• Promote the professional development of IT staff.
• Constantly strive to exceed customer expectations through our professionalism, courtesy, consistency, and commitment to excellence.

nd.gov: http://www.nd.gov/itd/planning/definition.html
Information Technology means the use of hardware, software, services, and supporting infrastructure to manage and deliver information using voice, data, and video.