Industry Overview Information Technology

Though estimates on global spending for information and communications technologies run in the trillions of dollars, this giant industry continues to struggle through fluctuating markets and must concentrate on continuous improvement to survive. Most agree that the demand for IT products and services will continue to increase, but at the same time, the customer is demanding more value per dollar in order to justify IT spending. Rather than ad hoc purchasing to solve a specific problem, customers are evaluating IT purchases in light of how they will serve strategic business needs and fulfill more fully defined processes and architectures. This reflects a fundamental change for the business IT industry, which affects and blurs the line between all segments including hardware, software, data, applications, and communications platforms. At the same time, this change offers numerous opportunities for those who can adapt. This course provides a roadmap for the rapidly converging IT world, identifies regulatory factors and business drivers, explores industry challenges, and offers examples of current strategic solutions.

This course is designed for management consultants and sales personnel seeking an overview of the IT industry, as well as corporate and enterprise-wide business managers who will be dealing with or seeking business opportunities in this sector.