So what exactly is Information Technology? Many of us, especially those in IT throw the term around a lot without giving much thought as to the meaning of the words. One of the challenges of the "IT" sector is that you will get a different answer depending on who you ask.

Even the internet is confused. A simple "define:Information Technology" search in Google brings up over 25 different but similar definitions. Wikipedia cites the Information Technology Association of America's definition:

"The study, design, development, implementation, support, or management of computer based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware".

That's a nice but to me it doesn't really open the eyes of the average everyday IT user. The problem with the IT market is ... well ... IT people. Many times we don't understand what IT is ourselves and we overcomplicate what is really basic and simple if you stop and think about it.

What I'd like to do in this blog is give you readers (and IT professionals) an awakening and remove the mystery of what "IT" is. In order to do this, let us look at "IT" under a microscope for a minute.

Let's do another Google definition search but this time let's separate the words and look at them individually. A searching for "define:information" pulls up some interesting results. My two favourites being:

"A message received and understood"
"Facts, concepts, or instructions; any sort of knowledge or supposition which can be communicated"

Typing "define:technology" brings us the following definitions

"Tools such as calculator, computer, or personal data assistant (PDA) used to help represent/solve a problem"
"A piece of equipment or a technique for performing a particular activity"

From the information definitions we can see that communication is a key factor in what information is. From the technology definitions we can see that technology is merely the things we use that help us communicate that information. Usually we communicate this information to achieve some sort of outcome.

Next time you go to write something down take a good look at your pen. In your hands you will be looking at IT in its purest form. The paper you write on? It is IT too. The pen and paper are tools that you use that help you communicate the ideas in your head to other people around you and at times to yourself so you don't forget. The pen and paper is the information technology that allows you communicate your information.

In the days of the cave people, people crushed up flowers and berries to create a crude form of paint. They then used this to communicate to others by smearing the paint onto the cave walls and creating symbols and pictures. It was found that after many moons, the cave paintings were becoming dull and hard to read. So methods were put into place to maintain and keep the cave paintings clear and readable.

This was a crude form of IT Service Management. The "technology" was the crude paint and the cave wall. The "service" that the cave paintings provided was information on the methods and ways in which the cave dwellers survived. By reading these drawings future generations would learn basic instructions on how to hunt, harvest and survive.

Over time the tribe grew and it became apparent that not everyone could paint well. It also became apparent that with the rapid growth of the tribe, there were more stories to be told and more information discovered about the big wide world.

Due to the increasing influx of information areas of specialty were created. Certain tribe members were responsible for maintaining and keeping the cave drawings up to date.

These specialists, using crude forms of analysis found that by mixing different type of flowers and berries, you could get the cave drawings to stay on the walls longer and therefore reduce the amount of re-painting that had to be done.

In essence they were not only managing the service but they were also looking to improve the service by understanding the needs or outcomes the tribe wanted to achieve and them implementing measures to meet that outcome. In this case, longer data retention.

From cave drawings, to stone tablets, to paper scrolls, to carbon copies to typewriters to photocopiers to the PC age. IT has always existed to do one thing: Facilitate the outcomes people and businesses wanted.

People didn't want stone tablets; they wanted a way to get information X to person Y without the constraint of having them live in the same area and visit their cave. People didn't want carrier pigeons.

They wanted to communicate information between kingdoms faster than putting a bunch of scrolls on a horse and carriage. Horse and carriage was expensive due to the cost of the carriage, rider, horse and security detail that had to accompany it.

There was also the issue of the risky nature of the message being intercepted and the messengers killed by the opposition. Pigeons were faster and cheaper.

Before the advent of personal computing all businesses achieved their outcomes by using paper. Before paper everyone used stone tablets.

Managing paper via filing cabinets and storage areas became cumbersome and expensive. The business outcomes didn’t change but the need to do them faster and to reduce storage space and costs did. By bringing in computers, you can now store hundreds of thousands of filing cabinets on a single box or nowadays you can do it on a single USB key. This means we can now transform that whole floor of old filing cabinets into useable office space which means we can hire more people and get more things done.

Computers enable our business processes. That's all they've ever done. That's all they’ll ever do. If I looked at you and said "Pen and paper drive the business" you'd laugh at me. But a common belief is that "IT drives the business". In today's world you can't do business without some form of IT. Choosing the right form of IT should be based on what your business outcomes are, not a long list of "features" that your business doesn't need or won't use.

By focusing on our business outcomes, we can better select the right type of "IT" that satisfies our business need. Whether it is paper or PC snail mail or e-mail the business outcome remains the same but the management of those technologies is what makes all the difference.