The Evolution of Enterprise Information Systems –.doc

Agility: The Key to Survival of the Fittest in the Software Market by Julie Smith David Arizona State University julie.smith.david@ William E. McCarthy Michigan State University mccarth4@ Brian S. Sommer B2B Analysts brian@ February 9, 2002 Text Word Count: 2,984 Agility: The Key to Survival of the Fittest in the Software Market Introduction The software industry and IT departments are facing extreme pressures to provide new applications that add value in todays competitive environment. Whereas in the 1990s companies concentrated on implementing systems that re-automated functions to provide specific benefits (the ability to process transactions on January 1, 2000), todays market demands new applications, and better integration within and between organizations. This has sparked the formation of many software companies to solve new problems, and well-established application providers are looking for new features and business models to improve their revenue streams. Concurrently, there has been a significant increase in the number of small, interconnected organizations who are working to provide emerging services and products to todays customers. These firms have different information needs than large firms. They often provide a limited number of products or services so their information needs may be simpler. However, they often work in concert with many other firms to complete projects, so they need the ability to communicate seamlessly within this web of firms to share information about each project. In response to traditional and emerging markets, software vendors are realizing they must satisfy the needs of a wide range of companies and to develop applications tailored to each niche. Facing these changes, those needing to evaluate applications are often faced with a daunting task of understanding key differences among software packages and attempting to identify the major players within each market segment. To facilitate such analysis, we have develope