Previously, information technology was a "servant" of business, and was used to enhance and improve strategic management decisions. In the 1800s, the telegraph, for instance, reduced the time needed to exchange correspondence between customers and suppliers, which greatly enhanced the efficiency of doing business.

The development of the typewriter speeded up the very task of writing letters and maintaining company records, and this machine helped reduce errors caused by such "human vagaries" as different handwriting styles. The development of the telephone, in many instances, replaced the need for typed messages, and businessmen could exchange ideas and communicate in what was "real time." However, there was st

McLoughlin, G.J. (1999, May), Next Generation Internet and Related Initiatives, Journal of Academic Librarianship 25, 226-229

The typical outsourcing model usually covers different levels of the corporate network, from the local area network (LAN) to the wide area network (WAN) and may even include systems management. Such arrangements call for extremely close relationships between the outsourcing company, and the primary company (King, 1998). Usually the outsource agency monitors network devices such as hubs, routers and switches for critical faults, and manages the network using centralized and distributed network management tools. Kaplan (1994) was finding surveys that showed business computing customers spend at least one-third of their information technology budgets on support services, including in-house personnel and outside vendors who design, install, maintain and manage computer and communications equipment. Today, that figure has gotten higher.

BUSINESS MANAGER: I don't care about that. Just get me the sales figures.

An IT system is only as capable as the people operating it. Data networks and Intranet programs within a company will need close attention. Data, on the other hand, presents new challenges for accounting. If a company, for instance, has a sophisticated database of 100,000 current customers, their buying habits, and so on, that database could greatly enhance the marketing efforts by reducing costs connected with finding new customers, and by allowing more targeted sales messages that are focused and needs-oriented. But how are the potential revenues from that enhanced marketing campaign accounted for? If the sales increase is ascribed to the IT, then the IT program could be considered a profit center

For example, it is easy to determine productivity when dealing with a process that the manager understands. Someone who knows an assembly line has a built-in store of kn