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Nationally known technology author and e-business expert Jack Shaw speaks about fiber optic capabilities Tuesday during a Centare Group seminar at the Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield. |
That was the message of Jack Shaw, an author and expert in e-business, who spoke Tuesday afternoon at a seminar sponsored by Centare Group, a software consulting firm. "You really have no choice about this," Shaw said about the new way of doing business. A company can sit back and let the competition do it first or they can be proactive, he said, comparing it to shooting at clay pigeons.
"You shoot a little ahead so the bullet arrives when the pigeon does," Shaw said.
His future vision includes sharing information through linking computers and use of autonomic systems that run things like ordering and distribution without human intervention unless it is necessary.
Use of grid computing, which he called "the Internet on steroids," will allow businesses to pick and choose pieces of what is needed from providers on the grid - making the days of software in shrink-wrapped boxes history. It involves the linking of computers so companies can try things out by simulation.
For example, he said, if Boeing is working on a new airplane design and wants to try out a new engine General Electric, one of its business partners, is building, they can link computers to merge the two and see if they are a fit.
No underlying proprietary information would change hands during the process, Shaw said.
Most organizations waste time and resources handling details that can be handled better by an autonomic system. Their use frees people to do more innovative and interesting jobs, work that improves services, reduces costs and increases profits. And people would still be making the decisions, Shaw said.
One challenge in business is maintaining data centers - hardware, software, networks and databases, he said.
"When I started 30 years ago, 90 percent of work was on improving business systems and 10 percent was on maintenance of those systems," Shaw said. "That has now flip-flopped."
Autonomic computing allows an infrastructure that is self-configuring, self-protecting, self-healing and self-optimizing, freeing people from time-consuming maintenance tasks, he said.
Many functions can be outsourced, said Shaw.
"What we’re going to see over the next seven years is an autonomic evolution: autonomic processes, autonomic enterprises; autonomic supply chains," he said. "We’re going to see the emergence of a global autonomic economy where products, services, parts and materials are moved around the globe - authorized by human beings."
Companies that do not want to be left behind must seek out change, Shaw said.
"Develop a strategy for evolving into an autonomic enterprise and evolve your business over the next three to five years," he said. "Have a vision of where you want to be in five years and do it piece by piece - like putting Legos together."
Alison Laurio can be reached at alaurio@conleynet.com.