Back to school Old-school thinkers consider IT the guard dog of intellectual property. Its role is to secure the network so no one can steal information. Beyond that, IT folks should stay out of the business strategy. Companies need to define what their problems are at a strategic level. It's much more time-consuming and expensive once IT gets involved.
More progressive thinkers consider IT to be an enabler.
At Capital One, IT is always included. Just because I'm in IT doesn't mean I can't be a thought leader. Va. The idea of IT as an enabler is seen in the booming genre of knowledge management software. As an enabler, protecting intellectual property is still IT's goal, but you accomplish that differently. You protect intellectual assets by giving employees the tools to create and use them.