Only 20 years ago, the world was in the mainframe era. Few people had access to computers. Corporations realized that networks of PCs and servers could transform the way they did business. Then the Internet came along. The PC has proved an incredible tool for boosting productivity and creativity, but there's still a lot of room for improvement in the way people work with information.
Businesses have a similar problem.
They want to interact with their customers, partners and suppliers in a deeper way, but many business Web sites can't even connect with each other in meaningful ways. It's difficult and complicated to integrate them with internal systems, and it's even harder to share that information with other sites. Microsoft's vision is for advanced software that can make it all work together, giving knowledge workers the tools they need to be more productive, and giving businesses the agility they need to stay competitive. It truly becomes a platform, where you have intelligence on PCs, servers and other devices working wherever it is needed on your behalf. So if you're planning a new product, your software can proactively access many different Web sites and extract exactly the information you're interested in.