Technology Paradise Lost: Why Companies Will Spend Less to Get More from Information Technology

Keller, Erik

ISBN 10: 1932394133 / ISBN 13: 9781932394139

Published by Manning Publications, 2004

About this Item

First Printing.

Seller Inventory # 10020412221

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Technology Paradise Lost: Why Companies Will Spend Less to Get More from Information Technology
• Publisher: Manning Publications
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1932394133
• ISBN 13: 9781932394139
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

An engine of the world economy―the computer industry―is sputtering. What happened? Will it regain its power and again drive economic growth as in the past? No.

That’s the surprising conclusion reached by Erik Keller, a central player in the booming IT world of the 1990s. Driven by fear of being left behind, American corporations let IT grow until it reached one half of all corporate capital spending by the year 2000. Now, chastened by their spending failures, IT managers are converging on a new consensus: to exploit IT competitively they must use their smarts over big money.

This shift in thinking comes just as free, open-source software, low-cost international programming labor, and new technologies combine to make the new approach possible. A former Research Fellow at Gartner, Keller had an insider’s view of the irrational spending at many Fortune 500 companies, personally influencing billions of dollars of technology acquisitions.

In Technology Paradise Lost Keller describes how the new thinking is working inside some of the country’s most complex and successful organizations―including Merrill Lynch, JetBlue, Harrah’s, and Motorola―which have cut IT spending to gain a competitive edge, and experienced marked gains to their bottom lines. As it advances, the new IT think will cause further massive disruptions in the computer business, with fundamental changes in the ways software is developed, sold, and used. Efficiency of IT investment will grow as excess fat is squeezed out of IT salaries, software system costs, and consultants’ fees.

In an unexpected twist, Keller argues that even as IT spending is reduced its importance for competitiveness will grow. Reduced spending does not mean IT has become a commodity. Counterintuitively, companies that spend less in order to get more from information technology will likely be the big winners.

About the Author

Erik Keller: A 20-year veteran of the IT industry, Keller is currently a highly sought-after consultant and speaker. Over ten years at Gartner he advised more than 1,000 companies including many of the Fortune 100. Keller accurately foresaw many industry trends and is known as the "father of ERP."