In other words, if a department can gain efficiency by automating its own processes, the enterprise should be able to gain yet more efficiency by automating processes that run through the whole business. There is another important aspect to this. While customers may deal with just one part of the business, they perceive the company as a whole. The customer of a manufacturing company may have an inquiry about availability, but may also be interested in prices, alternative parts and delivery dates. The ability to mobilize the separate parts of the enterprise to appear as one is a powerful differentiator when it comes to winning a customer's business.
Managers can visualize what's wanted.
They hold a mental map of the relationships of the business units, the processes and business rules, and the business events that are driving the enterprise. They understand intuitively how these relationships can be modified to achieve better results. We call this special quality that mangers bring to their job enterprise intelligence . Most mission-critical applications have been developed and enhanced over many years, and the newer ones may reside only in systems local to one business unit. Until recently, connecting disparate systems like this has been a complex technical task.