Carr contends that IT has reached a plateau, and companies can't gain much competitive advantage from IT investments. "Companies have to make the investments to maintain competitive parity, but if you think that you can innovate your way using technology to a competitive advantage that will be lasting, I think you’re fooling yourself," Carr said during the debate.

McNealy countered that IT is critical to competitive advantage: "To get an advantage, I need to know more about what happened in the last six hours than my competitor. It won't happen through smoke signals. IT is critical to make that happen."

Watch the debate, which includes venture capitalists and pundits Stewart Alsop and Bill Gurley, and vote for who you think wins the argument on whether IT matters.

Does IT matter? Yes No Who cares