Smart (Enough) Systems: How to Deliver Competitive Advantage by Automating the Decisions Hidden in Your Business

Chapter Three: Why Aren’t My Systems Smart Enough Already?

The cost of information technology in today’s organizations is substantial and is growing as a percentage of total operating cost—but today’s systems still aren’t smart enough. Why this is the case can only be understood by taking a historical perspective on business computing and how information technology (IT) developed as a discipline. In the past, IT departments were thought leaders in their organizations, setting the pace for the application of technology. Today, the needs and sophistication of the people who work in organizations are colored by an outside influence—the Internet—and IT organizations struggle to keep pace, burdened by accelerating demands and the drag of maintaining ...