The epic search for profits (not just the breakeven point) is the key reason why bean counters in online businesses everywhere are prematurely grey and suffer from broken hearts.

Every good-looking building is the product of sound architecture and good planning, and the same is true when building an enterprise information delivery architecture.

During a quiet IT week thanks to the elections, the acquisition of Dialog by Intel made international headlines as did the resignation of Cabletron president, CEO and chairman, Craig Benson.

As PRs depend entirely on value being added at each point in the value chain, managing the process of pre-preparation, interview, write-up and sign-off is critical to ensuring successful delivery of quality editorial.

The technologies and associated tools that enable an organisation to implement a successful information delivery solution turn the information value chain into a reality.

As local companies get caught up in the Internet frenzy, analysing the strategies of successful key players on the Web highlights that customer care, personalisation and brand building are vital ingredients.

Internet commerce is on the brink of an important breakthrough in SA in both business-to-consumer and business-to-business commerce, with analysts predicting a huge growth in e-commerce revenues.

The glut of local company results are starting to separate the men from the boys, raising hopes that perhaps some much-needed rationalisation and sanitation will occur in local JSE IT listings.

As Java celebrates its fourth birthday, it must seem ludicrous that enterprises would even consider putting their futures into the hands of a pre-schooler. Yet many have done it and are reaping the benefits.

Although it has become the accepted wisdom of the day that the content business is a loss-making enterprise on the whole, some players are proving to be the exception to the rule.

In a world where visibility is king and there is a growing phenomenon of knowing too much and doing too little, it`s imperative that organisations put their words into action.

Business executives who understand the information value chain can reap the benefits in their business decision-making, notes Franc Trivella in the second column of a six-part series on the information delivery paradigm.

Being first to market generally allows an organisation to tie up the market and exploit its dominant status, but for Iridium scoring a first has become a double-edged sword.