IT exploitation through business transformation: experiences and implications

In recent years it has been argued that as information technology has become a largely undifferentiated commodity, the scope for organisations to use it strategically, to gain and sustain a competitive advantage, has significantly diminished. In this chapter, we seek to assess the extent to which organisations will need to switch the focus of their attention from IT development to ongoing IT exploitation, if they wish to deliver real value from their commoditised IT solutions. In particular, we seek to explore the complex relationship between software projects, organisational change and benefits delivery, to try to understand why, if IT is now such a readily available commodity, it still results in such a wide variety of organisational impacts and outcomes. In so doing, this chapter will seek to articulate and critique the strategies and approaches that organisations will need to adopt if they are to be more successful in managing the business change and delivering the business benefits that stem from the adoption of commoditised IT.