DON’T INVESTIN TRANSFORMATION?THE COMMODIZATION MONSTERAWAITS

In 2003, just as the tech economy was recovering from the dot.com crash and the early winners of the initial digital implosion were starting to demonstrate viable business models, Nick Carr, writing in the Harvard Business Review, argued that inevitably, the marvels of IT which were generating hefty profit margins would be subject to the forces of commoditization, eventually ending up with all the charm and profitability of a public utility.

Just as happened to the railroads and electric companies before them, Carr suggested that the explosion of investment in digital assets would eventually lead to a per-unit decline in the value of those assets.