The results of a series of interviews about the future of information technology (IT) in their organizations are summarized in this paper. Interviews were held with 50 people at 22 different organizations.

Three important drivers of IT organizations were identified: rapid strategic business change; pervasive IT with an experienced user community; and e-business and technology complexity. Each of these drivers is discussed in reasonable depth, illustrating in the words of the interviewees why they felt this driver was important.

Given this background, the authors then discuss the transitions expected for companies who have their IT organizations in-house. Finally, they summarize these discussions, with the addition of the authors’ thoughts about how to deal with these problems, and the implications for those responsible for educating people working in IT.

The conclusions of this paper probably match the experiences of those within IT organizations. The only area that did not seem to be addressed was the implications for organizations that mostly implement commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. There are discussions about the need to document more effectively for offshore developers, but if the organization is trying to adapt to an off-the-shelf technology, the communication pattern probably has to go the other way (from the person knowing the technology, to the user who wishes to adapt to it).