Transforming business bonds - FutureScope: Top Execs Look Ahead - The Software Magazine 1995 Top 100 - Cover Story

Software Magazine,  July, 1995  by Jim P. Manzi

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Technology drives change in business. The assembly line fueled mass production. The invention of mass media created mass marketing.

In the '90s, new technologies have the potential to revolutionize how firms conduct business. Powerful client/server and internetwork architectures lay the foundation for a new form of collaborative computing within and among companies. These technologies create new ways to structure relationships between individuals and teams, between organizations within enterprises; between enterprises; and between the public and enterprises.

The organizations that exploit these new communications technologies will be best-suited to maintain competitive advantage in the next generation of business. These technologies include:

Robust client/server and messaging platforms that serve as the basis for developing and deploying groupware applications. Such applications improve individual and group productivity and shorten business cycles. These platforms allow people to access, share, track and organize data in new ways.

New classes of applications built on top of groupware platforms and messaging infrastructures. These applications facilitate the creation of ad hoc teams within a department. Individuals using "team computing" applications communicate with each other in a timely fashion, collaborate on projects, and coordinate activities that comprise a business process, resulting in accelerated decisionmaking and increased productivity.

Public networks that extend the boundaries of organizations. Using public "server farms," businesses will be able to create a new class of groupware-based applications to enhance collaboration within their enterprises, and share information among their marketing partners, customers and suppliers. Firms will be able to leverage this enterprise architecture with security not available on the Internet -- all without the costs of supporting and staffing a private network.

New electronic methods of business commerce. The communications technology that makes public networks possible will also provide businesses with a reliable, secure platform on which to enter the new world of electronic commerce. Business customers will make requests for proposals; order equipment, supplies and services; sign contracts; and transfer funds using their familiar desktop enviroments. Firms will exploit this technology not only to reduce the time of and improve the accuracy of business transactions, but to provide new value to their customers. Further, open platforms will facilitate inter-enterprise commerce by integrating existing systems.

Clearly, these communications technologies are reshaping the way people and businesses work together. Those firms best prepared for the redefining of organizational boundaries will be survivors in the next generation of business.

COPYRIGHT 1995 Wiesner Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group