IT: Defined

Jim Walton raised an interesting discussion among the voices in my head when he recently posted about his wife, Mary, asking the question "What is IT?" The initial response was that "IT" is a very vague and generalized field involving the "T" - Technology. But what about the "I" - Information? What does Information Technology really mean??

Merriam-Webster Online defines Information as the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence. Technology is derived from the Greek word technologia, meaning the systematic (or logical) treatment of an art or skill. From this, I interpret Information Technology as systematically transmitting and receiving knowledge or intelligence. Looking at the IT chain from the inside out chain, you can see that Network Engineers, Systems Engineers, Database Administrators, Application Developers, Desktop Support, and the Help Desk are all involved in Information Technology.

Most of the time, I get so caught up in the minutiae of my work that I fail to see the Information that I am "systematically treating". For each company, their information can be the purpose behind their existence - a mission statement or corporate creed. For those of us in Church IT, our information is that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Now that's IT.