John Merritt, YMCA of San Diego County

In every successful recipe there are key ingredients. Too much of one ingredient or too little of another can have very interesting effects on the outcome of the dish. It's no different when it comes to technology.

Business is driven by technology; the days of seeing technology merely as a necessary evil have long passed. Networking technologies allow us to move and access information quickly, we analyze our stored data to make sound decisions, websites & eCommerce focus on bringing convenience to our customers, email systems allow us to communicate around the world in the blink of an eye, we track vehicles via satellite, cell phones keep us in touch -- the list goes on and on.

The recipe for technology contains 3 key ingredients: Alignment, Relationship, and Transparency. Each of these, in balance, can assist in making technology a useful, functional, and invisible tool within our organizations. The ART of technology is not about the PC on your desk or the server in the backroom. The ART of technology is about our interaction with systems, processes and one another as we work toward efficient business operations and fully meeting the mission.