Mastering the Three Worlds of Information Technology
By Samuel Reali
The Three Categories of IT
IT can be classified into 3 categories, designed to help leaders understand what technologies to
invest in to maximize their returns. The categories offer distinctive capabilities, benefits, and can cause
organizational change. They are also used to indicate which IT initiatives will be easy to implement, and
which projects upper executives should work on.
In the Function IT (FIT) category, the focus is to assist the execution of tasks. Examples include
simulators, calculators, and computer-aided designs. Benefits include implementation without
complements and impact increase when complements are present. The article examples how Ducati
used simulators to test its two-cylinder engine. Upon inspection, Ducati realized they need to make a
four-cylinder engine to be able to win races. The implementation of the FIT technology helped Ducati
enhance experimentation capacity and increase precision.
Network IT (NIT) focuses on facilitating interactions without specifying parameters and helps aid
communication. Examples include email, blogs, instant messaging, and team communication software.
NIT doesn’t require complements but lets them emerge over time, nor does NIT specify tasks or
