CEOs believe technology is critical to their company's success

March 5, 2005

The Economist just released a new survey conducted on behalf of Germany's ERP software manufacturer and integrator SAP.

According to the study, which questioned mostly CEOs, over 80 percent of businesses believe that "technology will be critical to their company's ability to adapt business models and implement strategy [by 2010]" while about 60 percent believe that "IT is becoming more of a competitive tool rather than simply a driver of cost efficiency."

Increasingly, says the survey, the things that differentiate and empower a company -- regulating the supply chain, responding to demand, refining knowledge of customers, recruiting and recognizing the best human capital, increasing productivity, obtaining management metrics, &c. -- are achievable largely through IT systems.

Indeed, as Line56 has also argued, the conceptual model of strategy is shored up at every stage by the proper application of e-business tools.

As the survey concludes, "The Internet will continue to drive or influence many more changes in business in the coming years. All the more important that organizations assimilate some of its chief attributes."

Source: Line 56