The LEO principle: perspectives on 50 years of business computing
Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) was the first business computer. The dramatic advances of universal business computers overshadowed its history and foredoomed it as a product in the 1960s. LEO, however, embraced principles of business computing that were essentially different from those of the mass-marketed, universal computing products that have since dominated the business-computing marketplace. The defining LEO principle is that technology should be adapted to match the business, not that business should be adapted to match the technology. Because technology cannot be made-to-order economically, adaptation is required in practice, either by the customer or by the technology provider, or more probably, by both. Business organizations have to choose, therefore, from two essentially different philosophies: the introduction of technology easily by adopting a prefabricated solution (the mass-marketers), or the introduction of technology with potentially radical changes to optimize both the technology and the organization. The effect of the principle is illustrated with discussion of examples of optimization factors, processes and means developed during the LEO jubilee conference workshops.
business computing lyons electronic office operating system information systems adoption strategy