He's completely wrong about the one pretty important detail: why businesses are fed up with their IT departments. The reason isn't because of IT's unwillingnes

He's completely wrong about the one pretty important detail: why businesses are fed up with their IT departments. The reason isn't because of IT's unwillingness to adopt new technology (his Exchange-to-Gmail example), or that there isn't any "feedback loop for improvement." IT departments were created and exist because external vendors haven't satisfied business needs adequately. In small to medium sized businesses that's changing rapidly, but in large enterprises it's a glacial shift specifically due to what David doesn't get: IT is slow because businesses don't know what they want, they create overly complex specifications, they are slow to make decisions, and they often enforce draconian regulations. There are an abundance of ways IT can perform better in the age of web, not the least of which is knowing when to strategically outsource NVA functions. Sometimes these are obvious, like email, but a number of other core SG&A-type systems can be moved off-premise, too: HRIS, project management, helpdesk, and many more (there are even SAAS ERPs popping up). As AngeloAnolin notes, this is forcing every IT staffer -- especially managers -- to be as close to the business as only CIOs have been.