We've all read about the Internet's "endless potential" for redefining the
way businesses operate and computers are built. The Internet's astonishing
growth is a testament to its ability to live up to at least some of this
hype. Yet most corporate Web sites consist strictly of marketing brochures
and other static text and pictures.
To truly capitalize on the business potential the Web offers, organizations
need to combine the Web's universal access and deployment with their own
mission-critical business processes. By making transactions (such as travel
planning, stock trading and package shipping) available on-line, companies
can achieve benefits such as expanding their markets to a worldwide audience
and accepting orders 24 hours a day, all while lowering their administrative
costs.
To deliver applications like these on-line, corporations must re-engineer
their a... (more)