If you believe the outpourings in the media, social computing is set to turn our lives on their heads. It's true that we've all had to learn a new Internet language over the past decade. A recent poll made "tweet" (posting a message on Twitter) the word of the year for 2009. But how important is social computing in the workplace? No doubt many individuals (even some outside California) have welded tweeting into their lifestyles.

Recent findings from McKinsey’s annual global survey into IT strategy and spending, conducted in October this year, made me stop and think. These concerned IT executives’ own view of the strategic sourcing effectiveness of their IT organizations. Most respondents — two thirds of the sample — rated their strategic sourcing approach as effective. But this endorsement looks less impressive next to the 2008 findings.