The world of computing is now at a tremendous inflection point. The unprecedented level at and speed with which systems, businesses, and individuals are now able to interact are fueling tremendous innovation and change across the globe. Untethered from previous constraints of physical boundaries and aided by the ubiquitous reach of the Internet and the adoption of industry standards, the application of techniques such as Service oriented architecture (SOA), virtualization, and media convergence is contributing to advancing this shift. Understanding how to best harness and manage this power to the benefit of both the individual and the collective, whatever that represents ó an enterprise, a supply chain, an industry, or humankind ó is the opportunity at hand to navigate and unleash.
The pressing need for organizations to readily adapt to ever-changing market demands and provide new products and services in a more timely manner is becoming a prerequisite to survive in their respective industries. The ability to automatically integrate and leverage capabilities from a wide spectrum of resources has been an evolving aspiration, but now is a must, as is the need to design IT capabilities in a fashion more aligned with the business for greater speed, agility, and differentiation.