In the new economy players no longer have the luxury of arduous decision-making, slow speed to market and prolonged responses to environmental pressures. The new concept of `web years` demands agility, fleet-footed and innovative action. This means that old business models must be adapted to succeed according to the new rules of the game.
According to the GartnerGroup, "The true impact of e-business will vary enormously by industry in the short-term". It is therefore important to prioritise the areas in each business that need to be addressed first. Most successful organisations will adopt a hybrid e-business model, combining `bricks and mortar` and `pure play` facets. The GartnerGroup also suggests that there are four key areas that indicate an organisation`s readiness for e-business. They include organisational structure, typology, applications and technology, as illustrated below:
What is clear is that there is no e-business solution without application integration. This means that new applications need a high degree of openness. Service-oriented architecture interfaces result in reusable functionality and this approach should form the basis of most new application projects. This caters for basic business needs such as individualised information management, flexibility and legacy system integration. At the same time, new technologies that are open, non-proprietary and inter-operable will be essential as organisations realise that they need to cater for a multitude of architectures and standards within a complex environment.
The underlying technology needs to be driven by an object-based approach to heighten reusability, flexibility and the business` ability to react with speed to market trends. New paradigms in IT productivity are being defined with this approach, rendering traditional models inefficient and costly.
There is no quick fix, silver bullet or easy integration solution for any e-business strategy. But at the end of the day, IT must deliver quick, flexible and integrated solutions. This means going back to basics and ensuring the ability to cater for the diverse needs that exist in the business. This includes high quality and accurate functionality delivered within the time and cost limits set by the people running the business. Observe the following basic business rules in the new economy to ensure your organisation`s e-business success:
1. Appoint a suitable e-business owner who develops the strategy and drives its success. This person should have a strong business focus and report directly to the CEO;
2. Understand the e-business capabilities of leaders in your industry and define a differentiated positioning. Make sure you know which areas of your business are most at risk should you not achieve a sound e-business solution and tackle these first. E-business encompasses e-commerce, ERP, SCM, CRM, Knowledge Management and a variety of other processes. A failure to include any of these elements in the e-business strategy will result in noteworthy flops;
3. Ensure integration in all elements of your e-business plan. However, successful integration strategies must respect business practicalities as organisations cannot change entire infrastructures in a big bang approach. But, make sure that the basic architecture in your organisation has long enough legs to carry you into the future;
4. Ensure that IT is capable of delivering successful e-business solutions for the future with skills that embrace non-conventional strategies. Continuously measure that IT capabilities and resources are in support of business goals and question CIO`s and IT managers who defend poor productivity levels;
5. In future, no single systems architecture will be dominant in large, complex organisations. Plan for diversity and allow for a variety of standards to apply to different styles of work, as the business may require.
Share
