In the aftermath of a period of extravagant claims, it is now clear that any company can exploit the potential of online technology to real purpose. Even the most slow-moving companies are now aware of the immense opportunities being opened up by the Internet to reshape their businesses. The technology is there to do almost anything they want, whether it be opening up new sales channels to customers, streamlining and extending supply chains, collaborating with partners or shedding non-core activities.
Executives can, therefore, look beyond the technology and concentrate on what it can achieve.
IT can then be fitted to suit the real business purpose. It doesn't have to be perfect. Nor does investment have to be a three-year exercise. For all the hoopla and upsets of the Internet, the new e-commerce companies spawned by it did at least show what could be achieved online. They brought a creative spirit to the often staid business world and shook up established companies, many of which thought that their whole existence would soon be undermined.