The Long View: Unleashing Value from IT-Driven Innovation
By Joe Forehand, Chairman & CEO, Accenture

From the Editor's Desk: Getting IT Right
David Cudaback, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook, provides an introduction to this issue's subject, which is the critical interplay of information, technology and value-the outgrowth of more than six months of research at Accenture.

Introduction: Creating Business Value through Information Technology
The innovation that drives long-term value flourishes in the right information technology environment. Organizations that can master four key IT capabilities will achieve the combination of global flexibility and efficiency that is essential to high performance.

Infrastructure: Consolidate, Standardize, Streamline
A robust IT infrastructure, built on a master plan, can deliver real business value by enabling companies to optimize existing resources as well as accommodate new waves of technology.

Integration: Beyond Data and Applications
Companies that master the seamless merger of information from diverse sources will achieve a higher level of process performance, operate on the basis of better insight and intelligence, and be well equipped to exploit new business possibilities.

Industrialization: Going Global
A new approach to IT management focuses on driving down cycle time, increasing predictability, reducing rework and defects, and fully leveraging global sourcing.

Innovation: Bold New World
The innovative application of new information technology not only powers significant advances in business practices. Even more important, it can also produce the breakout new product, service or business model.