Know someone who doesn't manage their money well? Doesn't pay bills on time, has a lot of credit card debt, maybe loans that are piling up? What happens if you give that person Quicken or some sort of personal finance software? Does that help?
The expected answer is yes. Financial awareness alone has to help in some way. Knowing that you're spending $250/month on Starbucks can be an eye-opener. But over time, the effect of an IT intervention wears off. A lasting effect has to be behavioral, not just technical. Automating poor money management skills won't improve them. Habits have to change. A regular routine must be set. Moderation must be practiced. We all know it, but its tough to find the incentives to get us there.
In some ways, this is the challenge health care is facing with electronic medical records. From major hospital systems to small private practices, conversion from paper to electronic systems is happening at a rapid pace to meet Bush's 2014 deadline for all Americans to have electronic medical records. Everyone is in a state of adoption.
Yet adoption alone, as in the personal finance case, doesn't solve the inherent problem of bad habits and poor management. IT is not the panacea. Rather its the ability to respond and adapt well to change and move yourself or your organization's culture to the next threshold that will keep you competitive. The next best thing will always be around the corner. Its not what will get you there that will matter, but how well you've prepared yourself to be open to a new perspective that will make the difference.