Risks

IT departments that don't operate with an eye on creating market-driven competitive advantages for the company risk:

• Losing importance and relevance.
  
• Becoming managers of IT procurement and maintenance.
• Reduced morale.
• Loss of flexibility.
• Inability to respond to rapidly changing market forces.

Companies that don't use their IT department to create market-driven competitive advantage risk:

• Losing marketshare.
  
• Declining sales.
  
• Lost opportunities.
• Low-quality product development.
  
• Loss of speed.
• Loss of agility.
• Reduced capacity for growth.
• Business system problems, even approaching chaos.
• Expensive system overhauls.

Opportunities

IT departments that successfully create market-driven competitive advantages for the company can:

• Become central to companywide strategic planning.
  
• Create collaborative platforms within a company.
  
• Build improved business processes.
• Create product differentiation.

Companies that successfully create market-driven competitive advantages through IT can:

• Build on success for future successes.
  
• Identify market opportunities more readily.
  
• Improve product development and marketing activities.
  
• Grow sales and market share.
• Seize first-to-market opportunities.
• Create competitive advantages.
• Command premium prices for products.