Sometimes, it seems that success is the elephant in the
room of the IT industry.
An IT director once told me that the IT industry should take
collective responsibility for some of the "high-profile
IT project failures". He went on to say that these failures
have forever tainted CEOs against IT.
I beg to differ. I do not think my CEO really cares about
someone else's projects, as long as we deliver his. And, although I
am happy to keep the sackcloth and ashes on hand for my own
foul-ups, should I really be expected to wear them for someone
else's?
Mind you, if I should, then I should also be able to wear the
finery of the IT industry's successes. So here's my list of the
seven wonders of the IT world. (And, forgive me, although I am sure
Eniac was wonderful, I have focused on the past 10 years.)
E-government
Every government department, local authority, agency and quango
has transformed the service it offers to the public by using the
internet as a service channel. Simple tools, such as the UK
Planning Portal, have progressively made it easier and quicker to
deal with these organisations.
Microsoft products
There may be the odd grumble about Microsoft’s business practices,
but its dominance is founded on excellence. My own organisation is
utterly reliant on Microsoft products, all of which work well and
deliver a lot of value. Our total Micro-soft bill is less than 5%
of our IT costs each year.
Web 2.0Behind the media hype,
media such as wikis and blogs, and sites such as Flickr, YouTube,
MySpace and Facebook are transforming how we communicate and
interact with each other.
Gadgets
From
Blackberries to
iPods to Wiis, everyone has their favourite gadget, and quite
apart from how useful they are, they are just nice. As Gollum is to
his precious, so I am to my Blackberry Pearl – shiny, addictive,
and mine.
Economic contribution
The software
industry represents in the region of 3% of the UK’s gross domestic
product. According to industry body Intellect, the IT, telecoms and
electronics industries together generate about 10% of UK GDP and
15% of UK trade.
IT press
In some sectors the press is
boring and timid, ever afraid of losing advertising or upsetting
someone. Not so the IT industry press. There is more than one
excellent weekly magazine, and this competition drives them to
straightforward reporting, and to descend on issues like a pack of
wolves.
I am sure that’s not much fun if you are on the receiving end,
but it is healthy for the industry as a whole.
IT people
Having worked in various industries, my view is that there is more
diversity of people and approaches in IT than in any other
sector.
We should not be complacent about what we and our industry
contributes, but neither should we ignore the elephant.
Adam Burstow is CIO at property company Telereal