Uber is a ridesharing service that is headquartered out of San Francisco, California, also operating in other international cities. The company uses a smartphone or mobile tablet application to arrange rides between drivers and riders. The primary role of the IT in this business is not only the enabling of operations, but IT also provides a specific competitive advantage. Most ridesharing services do not run strictly from an application from a mobile device. Uber set themselves above the rest because they were able to engage themselves in a rapidly growing market, with fast, easy, and economical services that all smartphone users can engage themselves in. IT is also the enabler of this company. Customers use this app to request rides and track their reserved vehicle’s location. Without the use of this technology there would be no means of communication between the riders and drivers. The IT that Uber uses is not seen to be “cutting edge” in any means. It is conservative in the means of the technology used; the only thing that makes Uber’s IT “cutting edge” is the innovative way that they have changed and taken control of many markets across world. The use of the business is relatively

simple; the rider goes on to the application enters their location and debit/credit card number and is paired with a driver that is near by. There are many applications that are in thousands of different markets that use this same means of payment and use of IT. What makes the IT of Uber so fantastic is that there were not applications like this when the company first really started to expand and grab a hold of its customers. The mobile market is the fastest growing in the world, and Uber took advantage of this market years ago, never looking back. Uber’s use of IT compliments the company’s strategic direction by providing differentiation in its market. Uber was the front