Business at the Speed of Thought

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Bill Gates’ second book is about the impact of

technology on the very nature of business itself. And how it will fundamentally change,

thanks to a "disarmingly simple idea"–the flow of digital information

through an enterprise, and beyond it.

The Road Ahead

The book centers on a picturesque analogy and theme: a digital

nervous system. It’s probably no coincidence that this also abbreviates to DNS, the

domain name service that’s the backbone of Internet addressing. When working on a

speech for a CEO summit, says Gates, "a new concept popped into my head: the digital

nervous system. The corporate, digital equivalent of our nervous system, providing a

well-integrated flow of information to the right part of the organization at the right

time. It requires a combination of hardware and software, but it’s distinguished from

a mere network of computers by the accuracy, immediacy and richness of the information it

brings to knowledge workers, and the insight and collaboration made possible

by the system."

"Business at the speed of thought" will be driven in part

by the information access and tools that will alter the lifestyle of consumers, and their

expectations of business.

"If the 1980s were about quality and the 1990s were about

reengineering," says Gates, "The 2000s will be about velocity. When the increase

in velocity of business is great enough, the very nature of business changes. A

manufacturer or retailer that responds to changes in sales in hours instead of weeks is no

longer at heart a product company, but a service company that has a product

offering."

Today’s companies are used to using technology largely to

"automate old processes and make them move faster," and not to fundamentally

change the nature of the business. "Senior managers take the absence of timely

information as a given…they’re not used to rapid information."

Among Gates’ recommendations for the first steps to a

"DNS":

A companion to the book is not a CD, but a Website:

speed-of-thought.com. Apart from excerpts from and summaries of the book, the Website

shares many very readable case studies about Boeing, Xerox and others who, over the years,

have had to implement a "DNS". There’s also a section to help you evaluate

your company’s infotech status, and to answer the question: Do you have a digital

nervous system in place? The site suggests a number of "DNS solutions partners",

including Baan, Cisco, Compaq, EDS, E&Y, HP, KPMG—and, of course, Microsoft.

Yes, Microsoft should get a major PR and sales fillip from this book

and the Website: they cover a large number of examples and processes within Microsoft and

other companies, all using, of course, Microsoft tools.

"Thousands of suppliers and independent contractors meant

thousands of paper invoices—which meant too many opportunities for an invoice to be

misplaced or processed improperly. Microsoft needed a way to process invoices more

efficiently, which it found with MS Invoice, a Web-based application that has not only

streamlined the Accounts Payable process while improving process controls, but has also

reduced internal processing costs—from $19 per invoice to less than $4 per

invoice."

Are you about to dash off to buy MS Invoice after reading this? Even

if you don’t, you’ll find this a very useful book indeed. And as readable as its

catchy I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that title, doubtless with some eminent co-authoring.

Strongly recommended. Excerpts