Role of IT as a Business Enabler:A Case Study of Realty Sector in Western India

India's Real Estate and Construction (Realty) industry is one of the fastest growing internationally and the second largest employer in India after agriculture. This sector accounts for 11 percent of the country's GDP. The last decade has seen major initiatives in this sector with big investments coming in and giving rise to a whole lot of developments in terms of the magnitude and types of projects being undertaken. But at the same time the industry is faced with its own operational challenges when it comes to improvements in quality and delivery. Like all other industries, the realty sector too has turned towards Information Technology to improve its operational efficiency. In fact, it can be said that IT is a key reason for the quickening pace of the growth of the real estate industry. This research paper attempts to study how IT lends a competitive advantage to realty companies. There is a need to understand how well IT can align with business objectives of realty firms and identify the areas of major gains and concerns so that an efficient IT strategy to manage and enhance technology adoption for gaining a competitive edge could be devised. This paper is a result of the first-hand experiences of the author as an IT Practitioner, besides conclusions drawn through gathered data, interviews and observations at several related workplaces. As the realty sector in Western India is regarded as the most prominent, enterprising and innovative in the country, it was thought that exploring this region was bound to yield sound insights to enable the researcher to draw conclusions.