IT enters new computing phase with architectural shift

19.02.2007
In a bid to generate strategic advantage, IT is entering a new phase of computing with real-time integration of the front and back office to create a new paradigm.

Dubbed as phase three of the computing age, Nortel Networks Inc. Chief Technology Officer Phil Edholm, said phase one was during the 1960s and 1970s when payroll and inventory was automated.

"It didn't change a lot but it made business run faster," he added.

Phase two emerged in the late 1980s when there was a fundamental shift from technical to strategic as business processes began to change.

"Wal-mart [Stores Inc.] was the poster child of this transition which was repeated industry by industry during the 1990s," Edholm said.

The third phase began in 2004 with the question: "Is this is really a sustainable model?"