Business @ The Speed of Thought: succeeding in the digital economy
By Santosh Poudyal
Enough investment has been made in IT, technical personnel have been recruited and a separate department has been established to bridge the technical gap. Yet. the company is not able to gear up as expected. This perfectly reflects the situation of a substantial number of today’s techno savvy companies. If, as a manager, you think you have focused enough on IT, and still performed poorly, then you are in urgent need of shock therapy. “Business @ The Speed of Thought,” by Bill Gates (published first in 2000 May), presents enough reasons, focal points and examples for those managers.
Competition is no longer about providing the same products and services. It is about leveraging digital technology for innovation and better organizational control. The book also pin-points the gap between investment on IT and return from such an investment. In the author’s own words, the gap exists because of managers being unable to understand what is possible through IT and using the technology to move the right information quickly at the right time. The question “Who handles the majority information in your organization, the people or the computer?” makes the gap apparent. The book emphasises that major transformations in IT have already occurred and the only issue now is using these technologies optimally.
The author underscores the fact that an organization requires a complete network that can ensure well integrated flow of information to every part of the organization. Comparing such a network with the human nervous system, the author has coined the term “digital nervous system”. This system helps in easy access of data, in bubbling up solutions from all levels and most importantly it gets rid of the need to “flip through piles of papers”. This will shift the focal point from problem finding to problem solving. The book has been divided into three sections viz. commerce, knowledge management and business operation. The Digital nervous system integrates and energizes these systems in an organization.
In these three sections, the author predicts major changes due to the application of IT in business and talks about a market that is yet to see the light of day. He also predicts the possible threat for the middleman in the distribution channel due to disintermediation and presents a case of how the middleman can sustain himself in the digital age. He argues the internet can be used to extend the relationship with the customer and add new value to service, making the customer the king by developing a digital nervous system for organization.
Examples of successful IT applications by big business houses in between make the book more interesting and understandable, preventing it from becoming esoteric. Each example deals with a different paradigm shift in business due to the development of digital technology. By vividly presenting various cases, Gates seems successful in getting the concept across to both technical and non technical minds. The pre and post digital nervous system implementation analysis in each case further widens the horizon of understanding.
The book shows that IT exists to enhance the capability of the people – not to replace them. It provides as much information as possible not only to employees but to customers as well. It can help to predict the change in your business role and help you adapt to the changes in the market. IT brings radical change only when the majority of business processes are under the control of customers. The most interesting reading was the case of Dell Corporation – how being a first mover in implementing web based technology in the computer business, it left its rivals far behind.
The name of the author itself makes the book worth reading. His vision has changed our life. In the book he states that these changes are just the tip of the iceberg. Sooner the CEOs and CIOs know these facts, the easier will it be to craft success for them. Web reference given in the book (speed-of-thought.com) to satisfy the knowledge buds of curious mind makes the book complete.
Success or failure–whichever side the business takes–is determined by the management’s access and use of information. In the future, the business opportunities will flow to those companies that use digital tools to reinvent the way they work. In a nutshell, technology costs the same to everybody, but what makes the difference is how the technology is used to carve new ways for business, not just automation of old business processes.
Happy reading !!!
