IT commoditization challenging the leadership of Information Systems Managers: an emerging issue for Information Systems performances

Many IT solutions are perceived as growingly standardized, and then less and less capable of yielding competitive advantage and strategic value. This phenomenon is often referred to as “IT commoditization”; its consequences on Information Systems (IS) managers’ leadership and performances are still an under-investigated issue, where explorative field research is needed. In order to fill this gap, we actively participated in a workshop on the changing role of the IS manager, organized by a leading association of Italian CIOs. The main outcomes of our qualitative field research are the following: (1) the capability of efficiently managing also commoditized IT is becoming an essential part of IT department success; (2) the commoditization of IT can be perceived very differently by CIOs, by the other CxOs, and by users; (3) disagreement on the perceived commoditization of IT can jeopardize the leadership of IS managers; (4) a good leadership of CIOs and, more generally, of IS managers is essential to make the organization capable of managing the non-commoditizable (and then strategic) part of IS.