The Enterprise IT organizational model has existed since at least the late 1960s.  While the function’s range of activities has expanded greatly during this time, one could argue that the essential role and structure has not fundamentally changed.  Most firms still rely on their own dedicated IT infrastructure, overseen by a central IT group.  Whether this infrastructure is actually owned or managed by an outsourcing partner or the company itself can be viewed as a secondary consideration.

But after more than 40 years of stability, there are now plausible scenarios for much more radical changes.  IT is permeating the business as never before at both a product and service level, requiring new levels of integration and governance.  Employees are increasingly responsible for their own computing through PCs, the Internet, Software-as-a-Service and ever-more powerful consumer technologies.  Aggressive global outsourcing companies are eager to replace just about every internal IT activity.  And, perhaps most intriguingly, the possibilities of cloud/utility computing point toward a much more radical long term transformation.  In this environment, many CIOs and business leaders are looking for guidance about the extent, nature and timing of these significant changes.