And the people who can hold all the connections in their head, and be creative and flexible, become the best business managers. Supplying dynamic business needs . Devolving business decision making means that business units can stay light on their feet, but it means that the enterprise's information systems have to evolve rapidly to keep up with change. Leveraging the extended enterprise . Wider choice of suppliers, tighter supply chains and customer access across the Web all mean that lines of communication and the ability to connect become highly significant in a loosely coupled organization Doing more with less , so that the larger organization can function as effectively and efficiently as a smaller one.
Managers require a combination of skills and methods that can tax the most advanced enterprise.
A common thread that runs through all of these challenges is the making of connections. The automated enterprise Trying to get better communications working between different parts of the business is nothing new. A century ago department stores were using pneumatic tubes to move money between the tills and the accounts department, and technology has been trying to improve on that ever since. Ever since commercial computers became available, information technology has been a powerful tool in the fight for productivity and effective management. IT offers every part of the organization the chance to be more efficient, to communicate faster and provide better service.