The Next IT Revolution

Remember that guy who said a couple of years ago in a Harvard Business Review article that IT added no value to enterprises? Yes, Nicholas Carr is the man.

I disagreed vehemently with his conclusions two years ago. This time, we are in agreement: technology and Internet business processes are converging in a way that favors the emergence of an IT utility. Users plug into it, like a wall power outlet. It's there, 24/7. It expands capacity on demand (to use IBM's name for this game).

Anyway, it will take ten or more years to play out. Historians looking at this blog can decide whether Mr. Carr and I are right. I have no doubt on the direction. It's the timing that's hazy -- and any tech marketer will tell you that timing is everything.

-- Peter S. Kastner