Management on IT

We are a Logistics service providing company. Recently in a function our MD made a statement “Our company will not survive if there is no I.T.” while appreciating IT Dept head. Lot of people in Operations, HR, Accounts and other department felt this was an exaggeration. IT head,in his reply said ” What our MD said was that company will not survive without IT and it does not mean company will close down if people from IT dept left. IT has become a vital infrastructure, like electricity, and has become integral part of us all”

Still there were hurt feelings. How can this be better explained to people in those departments who do put in hard work to provide service to customers.