real it: the reality of it for most organisations

"RealIT" (reality, get it?) is the application of information and its technology to the functioning of an organisation. I.e. never mind the businesses that sell shiny tech things or that manage other peoples information, or all the other specialist tech businesses we are so captivated and distracted by. Real IT is about using IT to execute an organisation's mission. When people talk about IT these days the term is - as usual - becoming debased to mean any or all of these. That's why I have started refering to RealIT: to focus on the reality of applying IT to business/enterprise/organisational outcomes; to take us away from confusing RealIT with the consumer personal digital experience (direct from manufacturer to consumer - think Apple - is NOT Real IT, the rules are different) or with the specialist industries of IT service aggregators/outsourcers/suppliers, or IT manufacturers/startups/entrepreneurs/vendors ... all of which are hijacking and distorting the "IT" conversation away from RealIT. The Information Technology sector is layering into interacting industries. RealIT is one layer. RealIT isn't always about speed; the hysterical frenzy of the startup or of the retail technology vendor. RealIT isn't always about innovation or competitiveness. RealIT isn't always about novelty and attractiveness and pandering to the desires of the users. These are viewpoints which are more important in the other parts of the value chain. RealIT is about balancing the conflicting duties of "To Protect and Serve": acting as custodian of the massive existing investment in information and its technology, whilst also serving the changing needs of the organisation.