Business has entered a new era one that is all about gaining a competitive advantage over the competition. That advantages is often because the company's IT advancements. In 2003, Nicholas G. Garr authored a Harvard Business Review article entitled "IT Doesn't Matter." In this work, he argued that the strategic importance of information technology in business has diminished as IT has become more commonplace, standardized and cheaper. His ideas roiled the information technology industry, spurring heated outcries from executives of Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and other leading technology companies, although other commentators defended his position. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer called it hogwash. HP’s Carly Fiorina dismissed it, saying
