Information Technology
The Modern-day “IT” dilemma
While the idea of an IT department feels quite modern, the actual idea is pretty old. Since the 60s and 70s, organisations have been using computers to do some of their back-office tasks - accounting, payroll, transaction recording, stock control. That sort of thing. These systems were big, complex, usually ran on mainframes, and were generally considered support systems for the business. These systems needed people to operate, upgrade and maintain them so rather than have these support functions in the business, just like we did for other support functions, an IT department was created as a cost centre to house them.