What Is Information Technology And Why Is It Important?
The most basic defintion of what Information Technology (IT) is processing information by computer. Which when you think about it, is almost a no brainer. In this day and age, information technology and computers are considered to be synonymous.
Actually, the history of how information technology came to be called information technology is rather interesting. It took over 40 years before the industry as a whole got its act together and figured out what to call itself. It started out being called Electronic Data Processing (now that's a mouthful) and was followed by a slightly more formal approach - the Management Information Systems (confusing, as information mangement systems seemed to make more sense instead). There was one other industry attempt to name itself, and this time it was shortened to Information Systems.
The information technology field comes complete with its own debate over whether or not the term information technology includes or excludes telecommunications and the networking industry. So what makes the most sense? When you get right down to it, all information created and sent out by computers is sent over networks and common carriers (translation - your local Telco) so it only makes sense that information technology is defined as everything that delivers information to a user.
Having defined the parameters of what information technology is, how then is it implemented? This surprisingly is far more of a landmine issue than one would expect. Why? Simply because of the often unrealistic expectations organizations have about information technology and what it can do for them. Many organizations make the mistake of buying the wrong technology for the job or get it right, but don't implement it properly. Many of the reasons behind these faux pas have to do with human issues. The bottom line is, if you expect to use information technology in your business, then you need to have realistic goals, clearly understand the benefits, be ready to draft policy and process changes and comprehend the costs (financial and organizational). This means that everyone involved in the information technology implementation needs to be on the same page or it won't work. A word about organizational support and costs. Your information technology project will not succeed if the whole organization does not support and accept it. It's not good enough to just have the management support - those who actually will be using the information technology need to be on board as well. Plan carefully and with respect for the human element of your organization, to involve them in your information technology implementation. The results of organization wide knowledge transfer with complete information can be astonishing if done correctly.
Knowledge Management
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