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ExclusiveInterviewwithGartnerAnalystGenePhifer1.Towhatextentistoday'senterpriseITinfrastructureadequatetosupportthebusinessdemandsoftomorrow,andwhatshouldCIO'sbesuretohaveinplace?Mostoftheinfrastructureinenterprisestodayisnotcapableofhandlingthebusinessdemandsoftomorrow.Businessesarelookingforagility,theabilitytoaddressnewbusinessopportunities,developandlaunchnewproductofferingsandideas,andpursuenewchannelsofinteractionveryrapidly.Alltoofrequently,IThasbeenanimpedimenttobusinessagility.ITsystemsandinfrastructureshavebeenveryinflexible,andrequiremonthstoyearsofevolutionbeforeallowingbusinessestoadoptnewchannels,newproductsandnewstrategies.Obviouslyweneedtochangethat.Weneedtoextendthewaywehavearchitecturedinfrastructuresandapplications,andthewaywedeploytechnologyinsupportofnewbusinessopportunities.Thatisgoingtorequireanewlevelofinteroperabilityandnewcapabilitiesforintegrationandadoptionofserviceorientedarchitecturesinordertobuildandarchitectagilesystemssolutions.Wewillassembleandreassembleservicesasnecessarytomeetchangingbusinessobjectivesorbusinessopportunities.Inparallel,thetechnologyinvestmentsthatcompanieshavealreadymademustbepreserved,whileinfrastructuresmustevolvetofocusonserviceorientedcapabilities.ITwillutilizewebservicesasoneoftheprimarymethodsofinteroperability,andwillallowlegacyapplicationstoextendintothefutureinawaythatoffersflexibility.Hence,today'sITinfrastructurewillseriouslychangefortomorrow.2.Afterthelasttwoyearsofkeepthelightsonspending,whatdoyouseeastopITstrategiesandspendingpriorities?ThelastcoupleofyearshavenotbeenprettyfromeitheranITperspectiveoravendorperspective.Therehasnotbeenmuchmoneyspentontechnology–notnearlyasmuchasthevendorswouldhaveliked.However,weareseeing2005asaturnaroundyearinallowingenterprisestotakeadvantageofinvestmentspending,notjustinmaintenance,butinnewcapabilities,technologiesandapplications.Wehavetobesmartinhowwespendthisnewbudgetmoneybecausefirstofall,thereisnotmuchofit.Second,thereisgoingtobearealhardviewofhowthisnewinvestmentspendingisgoingtoderivelongtermbenefitfortheorganizationaswellasdelivershorttermmeasurablevalue.Sowehavetolookatspecifictypesofapplicationcapabilitiesthatarenecessarytomeetbusinessobjectives.Fromaninfrastructureperspective,wealsohavetolookathowwecanevolvetodealwiththeorganization'sagilityneeds.Howarewegoingtoinvestinourinfrastructuretoobtainthatlevelofagilityandtoutilizeserviceorientedapproachesthatleanheavilyonwebservices?Also,howwillthisinvestmentallowustobuildcompositeapplicationssoexistingapplicationsandnewbusinesslogiccanbereassembledinnewandcreativewaysthatwillmeetthedemandsplacedonITtodeliverrealizable,visible,shorttermbusinessvalue?Wearelookingatinvestmentspending,notspendingthatisgoingtoberealizedfiveyearsfromnow,butspendingthatwillshowreturnswithina12to18monthtimeframe.Onesetofapplicationsmeetingthosecriteriaiswhatwecallgapapplications,orgapapps.Gapappsfallinbetweenyourtraditionalstovepipesuites:ERP,CRM,supplychain,orpartnerrelationshipmanagementsuites.Theyincludeallthosethreeletteracronymsuiteswehavedeployedovertheyears,aswellasthoseequivalentlegacyhomegrownapplicationsusedtosolvesimilarbusinessproblems.Enterpriseshavemanybusinessprocessesandfunctionsthathappeninbetweenthosesuites,inwhatIcallthegap.Thesegapappsaregoingtobeasourceofmajorinvestmentspendingin2004,'05and'06.Thisisalsoanareawhereweseecompositeapplicationscomingin,becauseinmostcasesgapappsarecompositeapplications,aclassofapplicationthatwecallpackagedcompositeapplications.Thesecanbehorizontalinnature;projectmanagementandstaffingareexamples.Theymayalsobeverticalinnature;forexample,retailsupport.Differentvendorswilldeliverdifferentsetsofgapappstotargetwheretheycanbestdifferentiatethemselves,deliverthehighestvalueandhighestreturn,andmakethemostmoneyintheprocess.3.IntheMay10th,2004issueofBusinessWeek,therewasapublishedcoverstorycalledeBizStrikesAgain.Doyouseeevidenceofthisrenaissanceine-business,andwhatisdrivingit?Yes.DuringtheInternetgoldrush(1997-2000),atremendousamountofmoneywasthrownintoablackholewithlittle-to-nopossibilityofreturn.Butpeoplediditanywaybecausethatiswhattheythoughttheyneededtodotostaycompetitive.E-business,specificallye-commerce,becamehuge,andaplethoraofcompaniesdeployede-businessande-commercestrategies,thenfiguredouttheydidn'tknowwhattheyweredoing.Thedotcommeltdownoccurredin2000,givinge-businessabitofablackeye.Consequently,ithasbeenrelegatedtothebackburnerforthelastfewyears.However,recentlywehaveseenaresurgenceofe-business.Companiesthatenterede-businessduringthegoldrushnowseetheirtechnologygrowingalittlestale.Theyarelookingforthenextgenerationofe-businessande-commercefunctionality,andtheguyswhogotintoitandstayedinitarelookingforthenextgenerationofthesetechnologies.Thecompaniesthateitherlookedate-businessandavoidedit,ormaybegotintoit,playedwithit,andthengotoutofit,arerevisitingthatdecision.Wehavenowseenalotofmaturityevolveintheworldofe-business.Wehaveseene-commercewebsitesgrowup,merchantserversbecomeextremelypowerful,andcertaine-businesssiteshavebecomepartoft