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104 Part 1 Introduction

Introduction

Defining an adequate technology infrastructure is vital to all companies adopting e-business.
The infrastructure directly affects the quality of service experienced by users of the systems in
terms of speed and responsiveness. The e-business services provided through a standardized
infrastructure also determine the capability of an organization to compete through differenti-
ating itself in the marketplace. Mcafee and Brynjolfsson (2008) suggest that to use digital
technology to support competition the mantra for the CEO should be:
‘Deploy, innovate, and propagate’: First, deploy a consistent technology platform. Then
separate yourself from the pack by coming up with better ways of working. Finally, use the
platform to propagate these business innovations widely and reliably. In this regard,
deploying IT serves two distinct roles – as a catalyst for innovative ideas and as an engine
for delivering them.

E-business E-business infrastructure refers to the combination of hardware such as servers and client
infrastructure PCs in an organization, the network used to link this hardware and the software applications
The architecture of
hardware, software, used to deliver services to workers within the e-business and also to its partners and cus-
content and data used tomers. Infrastructure also includes the architecture of the networks, hardware and software
to deliver e-business and where it is located. Finally, infrastructure can also be considered to include the methods
services to employees,
customers and partners. for publishing data and documents accessed through e-business applications. A key decision
with managing this infrastructure is which elements are located within the company and
which are managed externally as third-party managed applications, data servers and networks.
It is also important that the e-business infrastructure and the process of reviewing new
technology investments be flexible enough to support changes required by the business to
compete effectively. For example, for the media there are many new technologies being
developed which were described from 2005 onwards as Web 2.0 and IPTV (television deliv-
ered over the broadband Internet). We will look at these approaches later in this chapter, but
for now look at the implications in the Real-world e-business experiences interview and
consider the implications for the newspaper publishing industry. In a speech to the Ameri-
can Society of Newspaper Editors in April 2005, Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation said:

Scarcely a day goes by without some claim that new technologies are fast writing
newsprint’s obituary. Yet, as an industry, many of us have been remarkably, unaccountably
complacent. Certainly, I didn’t do as much as I should have after all the excitement of the
late 1990s. I suspect many of you in this room did the same, quietly hoping that this thing

called the digital revolution would just limp along.
Well it hasn’t … it won’t …. And it’s a fast developing reality we should grasp as a huge
opportunity to improve our journalism and expand our reach. (News Corporation, 2005)

We refer above to an adequate e-business infrastructure, but what does this mean? For the
manager in the e-business, this is a key question. While it is important to be able to under-
stand some of the technical jargon and concepts when talking to third-party suppliers of
hardware, software and services, what is of crucial importance is to be aware of some of the
limitations (and also the business potential) of the infrastructure. Through being aware of
these problems, managers of an organization can work with their partners to ensure a good
level of service is delivered to everyone, internal and external, who is using the e-business
infrastructure. To highlight some of the problems that may occur if the infrastructure is not
managed correctly, complete Activity 3.1. It illustrates how companies should think about
risks and solutions to these risks.