Increasing Functional Specificity over Increasingly Commoditized Hardware - Guide to Cloud Computing for Business and Technology Managers - page 26

alongside or within the rapidly growing area of E-Commerce. Internet
technology has made E-Commerce in its many forms (B2B, B2C, C2C, etc.)
possible. Mobile and wireless technologies are expected to make always
on Internet and anytime/anywhere location-based services (also requiring
global positioning systems) a reality, as well as a host of other capability
characteristics of M-Business. One can expect to see ES geared more to
the support of both E-Commerce and M-Commerce. Internet, mobile, and
wireless technologies should figure prominently in new and improved sys-
tem modules and capabilities.
The current business emphasis on intra- and interorganizational process
integration and external collaboration should remain a driving force in the
evolution of ES in the foreseeable future. Some businesses are attempting
to transform themselves from traditional, vertically integrated organiza-
tions into multienterprise, recombinant entities reliant on core-competency-
based strategies. Integrated SCM and business networks will receive great
emphasis, reinforcing the importance of IT support for cross-enterprise
collaboration and interenterprise processes. ESs will have to support the
required interactions and processes among and within business entities
and work with other systems/modules that do the same. There will be a
great need for business processes to span organizational boundaries (some
do at present), possibly requiring a single shared inter-enterprise system
that will do it, or at least communicate with and coprocess (share/divide
processing tasks) with other ES systems.
Middleware, ASPs, and enterprise portal technologies may play an impor-
tant role in the integration of such modules and systems. The widespread
adoption of a single ASP solution among supply chain partners may facili-
tate interoperability as all supply chain partners essentially use the same sys-
tem. Alternatively, a supply chain portal (vertical portal), jointly owned by
supply chain partners or a value-added service provider that coordinates the
entire supply chain and powered by a single system serving all participants,
could be the model for the future. ASP solutions are moving the ES within
the reach of SMEs, as it costs much less to rent than to buy .
The capability of Web Services to allow businesses to share data, appli-
cations, and processes across the Internet may result in ES systems of the
future relying heavily on the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), within
which Web Services are created and stored, providing the building blocks
for programs and systems. The use of best-in-breed Web Service-based solu-
tions might be more palatable to businesses, since it might be easier and less
risky to plug in a new Web Service-based solution than replace or add on a
new product module. While the one source alternative seems most popular at
present, the best-in-breed approach will be good if greater interoperability/
integration among vendor products is achieved. There is a need for greater
out-of-the-box interoperability, thus a need for standards.
Data warehouses and Knowledge Management System (KMS) should
enable future ERP systems to support more automated business decision