World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs

Introduction

Prior to the 1970s, computer and electronics-based technology was hardly a pervasive part of our everyday lives. Automobiles were not yet computerized, fax machines were just taking off, and, significantly, the personal computer had yet to be popularized. Individuals who dreamed of a career in information technology departments were likely those who happened to come into contact with technology. Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen famously attended the Lakeside School in Seattle together that had a time-shared PDP-10 computer, which allowed them to learn computer programming and, equally important, to dream big dreams that would have an impact on us all.

Today technology is everywhere. Some of us are awakened by clocks ...