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and at home. For example, it will be possible to collect, analyze, and present information continuously, to tailor available information to personal, specific needs, and to have superior yet cheaper access to products, services, people, and capital. |
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The ability to reach people and organizations interactively in real time, together with virtualization, is eliminating the physical constraints of space, time, and form. This means that team members can share distributed information and resources, participate in distributed processes, and interact as if they were working next to each other. In effect, a workplace can be virtually created for each worker wherever located. This will have a profound impact on the way we conduct our business and social lives. |
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On a personal level, the reduced travel brought about by this application of technology will provide a more stable lifestyle for employees. At the same time, the ability to talk to colleagues on the other side of the world, as-needed, will promote the sense of belonging to one global firm. |
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Direct benefits include cheaper offshore development, reduced travel expenses, and a reduction in productive time lost on planes and suffering from jet lag. Indirect benefits may include less rework (as people will find it much easier to find out what other colleagues in the company have done before) and greater quality of work (the ability to stand on the shoulders of giants by building on global test practices). The net result will lead to reduced development time and increased consistency and quality of product. |
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Implementing and applying these technologies will provide many challenges. Organizations need to ensure they recognize the human factors which may be lost if IT is implemented without thought for people and process. To fully integrate IT into the business requires establishing a clear strategy with consideration of people, processes, and technology (see Fig. 5). |
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The convergence of computing, communications, and knowledge is already being used powerfully. For example, the Internet demonstrates all three technological trends and is expanding astronomically, providing a wealth of opportunities in the commercial sector and to private users. |
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Internet solutions have always been made up of individual technology services and standards that interoperate efficiently and effectively. The Internet is clearly focused on the outside world and is the quintessential end-user driven technology. The corporate Internet, the Internet, is being used within organizations as another mechanism for collaboration and in- |
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