Web Biz

I wanted to add a topic that is directly related to the article title Nice Doing Business With You from the February 2005 issue of CIO magazine . This topic is Service Oriented Architecture, which is referred to in the article in when the author talks about the Web services and XML in either an extranet setting, through other secured connection methods, or FTP.

As defined by Wikipedia.com, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) "expresses a software architectural concept that defines the use of services to support the requirements of software users" (wikipedia.com, 2005). I think that this sentence sums up the objective of the methodology of this architecture, which allows for businesses to connect to suppliers and vendors via Web Portals or through their existing ERP solution. This approach has gained ground over the past 20 years, and is beginning to be truly recognized, which brings higher level of efficiency, lower costs, and reduction of errors.

The article entitled "SOA simple" by Marshall Lager states that "Among SOAs strengths are its flexibility and ease of integration compared with conflicting suites of applications" (Lager, 2006). I think SOA is changing the way IT operates in an organization and will continue to focus on efficiency and integration. I thought the article that we read really hit on the topic of integration of information systems not only throughout the enterprise but also between suppliers and vendors. It should not go without mentioning the obvious: without the networking technologies currently in place that allow communication via Internets, extranets, intranets, and any other network. I think that SOA is an architecture that will allow these technologies to be used for the benefit of enterprise solutions and Business-to-Business solutions that will allow organizations to compete globally with maximum efficiency. Miko Matsumura, vice president of technology standards at Infravio of stated that SOAs in the future will "enable hosted and non-hosted vendors to compete on an equal footing. Intermediaries will become specialized for verticals and business segments, and service registry repositories will grow into more full-featured catalogs and management interfaces" (Lager, 2006).

Another great article entitled "Value Propositions". The five propositions that strategists David Bovet and Joseph Martha say help companies create value for their customers" in Fast Company outlined these strategies as:

1. Your only choice is to give customers smarter choices;
2. Faster is better — that is, if customers will pay for speed;
3. You can do the right thing without doing everything;
4. Treat partners like partners;
5. Know what customers want — "super service" and "perfect orders." (Hammonds, 2000).

The article provides some great insight into the methods and strategies that enterprises should consider in order to provide a better customer experience by working strategically with the customer.

Resources:

• Lager, Marshall. (2006, February). SOA simple. Customer Relationship Management, 10(2), 20-24. Retrieved February 9, 2006, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 977795091).
• Hammonds, Keith H. (2000, August). The five propositions that strategists David Bovet and Joseph Martha say help companies create value for their customers. Fast Company, Issue 37, Page 247. Retrieved February 9, 2005, from http://www.fastcompany.com/online/37/ideazone.html.
• wikipedia.com. (2006, February). Service-oriented architecture. Retrieved February 9, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service-oriented_architecture.