The advances of modern computer-based innovation have been mind-bogglingly fast and have changed both business and everyday life around the world. But change has not come evenly. The very pace of technological advancement has tended to hide some fundamental problems that have existed from the start. These involve, not the technology only, but the management and application of that technology. The human and organizational factors have not kept pace. They have remained relatively static and, to a shocking degree, ineffective. As a result, the IT department in any organization has somehow remained a breed apart. Communication between IT and the rest of the organization is fraught with misunderstanding. This leads to failures, recrimination, and, sometimes, wholesale changes which fall |