www.dbebooks.com - Free Books & magazines Looking Back and Going Forward in IT This page intentionally left blank Looking Back and Going Forward in IT Jean-Pierre Corniou First published in France in 2002 by Hermes Science/Lavoisier entitled “La société de la connaissance : nouvel enjeu pour les organisations” First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2006 by ISTE Ltd Translated by Tim Pike Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: ISTE Ltd ISTE USA 6 Fitzroy Square 4308 Patrice Road London W1T 5DX Newport Beach, CA 92663 UK USA www.iste.co.uk © LAVOISIER, 2002 © ISTE Ltd, 2006 The rights of Jean-Pierre Corniou to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Corniou, Jean-Pierre. [Société de la connaissance. English] Looking back and going forward in IT / Jean-Pierre Corniou.-- 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-905209-58-3 1. Information technology--History. 2. Management information systems. 3. Information technology--Social aspects. I. Title. T58.5.C684 2006 004.09--dc22 2006000869 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 10: 1-905209-58-4 ISBN 13: 978-1-905209-58-3 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire. Table of Contents Foreword by Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Renault............................................ 9 Introduction – All Set for an E-journey ...................... 13 Chapter 1. The First Information Revolution................... 17 1.1. Information: the catalyst for the development of the human community................................ 17 1.2. Writing ...................................... 19 1.3. Counting..................................... 20 1.4. Sorting: Hollerith’s tabulating machines................... 23 1.5. Europe lagging behind…............................ 24 Chapter 2. From Electromechanics to Electronics................ 27 2.1. The NCR crucible................................ 27 2.2. A company named CTR............................ 29 2.3. IT: a product of World War II......................... 30 2.4. IT: a complex, precious and expensive commodity............ 32 2.4.1. The UNIVAC venture.......................... 33 2.4.2. The IBM riposte.............................. 34 2.4.3. The BUNCH................................ 35 2.5. The trials and tribulations of IT in Europe.................. 36 2.5.1. France: caught between state intervention and US domination . 37 2.5.2. Great Britain’s vanishing greatness.................. 40 2.6. Centralization of IT power and work organization............. 42 6 Looking Back and Going Forward in IT Chapter 3. The Dawn of the Digital Era ...................... 47 3.1. The quest for new freedom........................... 47 3.2. The colorful saga of major firsts....................... 49 3.2.1. The first micro-computers........................ 50 3.2.2. Sources of inspiration.......................... 53 3.2.2.1. PARC................................. 53 3.2.2.2. MIT.................................. 54 3.2.3. The first groundbreaking software................... 56 3.2.3.1. The spreadsheet revolution.................... 56 3.2.3.2. An e-mail odyssey......................... 57 3.2.3.3. The birth of Bill Gates and Microsoft.............. 58 3.2.3.4. The world of games........................ 58 3.2.4. A three-dimensional world....................... 59 3.2.5. Scientific instrumentation through servers: the story of HP.... 60 3.3. The internet explosion............................. 61 3.3.1. From ARPANET to the web...................... 62 3.3.2. 1993: the official birth of the web................... 65 Chapter 4. Light and Shade in the Digital World ................ 69 4.1. The family tree of the digital world...................... 69 4.1.1. Stalwarts undergoing change...................... 69 4.1.1.1. Honor to whom honor is due................... 70 4.1.1.2. Telephone companies....................... 71 4.1.2. How golden was my Valley!...................... 72 4.1.3. Integrated software editors....................... 74 4.1.4. Microsoft: an entirely separate case.................. 75 4.1.5. The web generation............................ 77 4.1.6. The inescapable consultants and service providers......... 78 4.2. The slippery slope................................ 80 4.2.1. The victims of the second wave.................... 80 4.2.2. Ousted leaders............................... 81 4.2.3. Micro-computing à la française .................... 82 4.2.4. Broken promises: could do better!................... 83 4.3. The engines powering progress in the digital era.............. 84 4.3.1. Human/machine interface........................ 85 4.3.2. The laws in the new world........................ 87 4.3.2.1. Moore’s Law............................ 88 4.3.2.2. Metcalfe’s Law........................... 89 4.3.2.3. Ruettger’s Law........................... 89 4.3.2.4. Gilder’s Law............................ 89 4.3.2.5. Shannon’s Law........................... 89 4.3.3. Machine diversification and interoperability ............. 89 Table of Contents 7 Chapter 5. The Promise and Reality of New Technology............ 91 5.1. IT effectiveness called into question..................... 91 5.2. The value of IT.................................. 92 5.2.1. IT and economic savings: can the case be closed?.......... 93 5.2.1.1. The macroeconomic approach.................. 95 5.2.1.2. The microeconomic approach.................. 97 5.3. The IT sector set up as a model.........................102 5.4. Telecommunications in the eye of the storm.................105 5.5. Shifting boundaries and extended companies.................108 5.6. Corporate network players............................110 5.6.1. The customer is always right!.......................110 5.6.2. Marketplaces.................................113 5.6.3. Employee-centric..............................115 5.7. New opportunities and new competition....................117 5.8. The new time/space framework .........................119 Chapter 6. IT Policies in Efficient Enterprises ...................121 6.1. Reduce the shortfall between promises and reality..............121 6.2. Shedding light on IT and information systems…..............124 6.3. Information governance.............................126 6.4. Making choices..................................126 6.4.1. Interoperability ...............................127 6.4.2. Scalability ..................................128 6.4.3. Reversibility and independence vis-à-vis suppliers..........128 6.4.4. Predictability of performance .......................129 6.5. Structuring.....................................130 6.6. Realization.....................................134 6.7. Measurements and monitoring.........................136 6.7.1. Keys to IT operations............................140 6.7.2. Monitoring maintenance programs and new projects.........141 6.8. To do it oneself or ask someone else to do it?................141 6.8.1. The rise of purchased tools........................142 6.8.2. The transformation of in-house IT....................143 6.8.2.1. Purchasing logic...........................143 6.8.2.2. The informed decision not to purchase..............145 6.8.3. The merciless world of contracts.....................147 6.9. Sisyphus and security...............................150 8 Looking Back and Going Forward in IT Chapter 7. New Instructions for CIOs ........................153 7.1. Lessons of the past................................154 7.1.1. Key IT issues since 1970, as seen through the eyes of CIGREF reports...................................156 7.1.2. With the benefit of hindsight: the major stakes of the 1990s....158 7.2. The CIO’s missions................................161 7.2.1. The CIO-teacher...............................162 7.2.2. The CIO-leader...............................164 7.2.3. The CIO-manager..............................165 Chapter 8. New Vision(s)? ................................167 8.1. Gurus and a New Economy in a perfect world................167 8.1.1. Shattered dreams?..............................168 8.1.2. What remains of the dot-com years?...................169 8.2. The technological outlook............................170 8.2.1. What a beautiful world!..........................170 8.2.2. Open source software: the alternative?.................174 8.2.3. Cyborg and the cyberworld: reality and delirium ...........176 8.3. Citizenship and economic development....................177 8.3.1. Unequal access to internet resources...................177 8.3.2. The first hesitant steps towards electronic democracy........181 8.3.2.1. Electronic voting...........................181 8.3.2.2. Access to public services ......................182 8.4. Developments in the Third World.......................184 8.5. Security and freedom: what are the real threats?...............184 8.6. Press, media