The View from the Fast Lane: The Future of Information from the Perspective of Fortune's Fastest Growing Companies.

• Author: DEARSTYNE, BRUCE W.
• Position: Brief Article

AT THE CORE

THIS ARTICLE EXAMINES:

* new and emerging technologies that are dramatically transforming the world of information

* how e-business has changed the role of information management

* how the focus on customer relationship management and the need to provide personalized sales and services have increased the value of information

The expansion of e-business, e-government, and e-commerce has dramatically increased both the societal importance of information and, thus, the societal importance of sound information management. This article presents a fresh view of the future of information from the perspective of technology and telecommunications companies identified in the 2000 annual Fortune magazine's survey of fastest growing companies. (See sidebar: "Fast-Growing Companies with Information Insight.")

Fast-Growing Companies With Information Insight This article focuses on the technology and telecommunications companies identified in "Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies," Fortune, 4 September 2000, 142-158. Thirty-five companies were included under these two headings (Fortune's other categories are industrial, retail, health care, financial services, and other). The following companies provided particularly helpful information and insights. Company Location Product/service Advanced Digital Redmond, WA Tape data storage Information Citrix Systems Ft. Lauderdale, FL Software Comverse Technology Woodbury, NY Software for telecommunications systems Dell Computer Red Rock, TX Computers DiamondCluster Chicago, IL Technology consulting; International Inc. e-business strategies FMC Corporation Hopkinton, MA Dala storage and retrieval i2 Technologies, Inc. Dallas, TX Innovative software MCSi Dayton, OH Integrates audiovisual, broadcast, and computer technologies Mercury Interactive Sunnyvale, CA Website analysis, monitoring, testing Micrel San Jose, CA Circuits Network Appliance Sunnyvale, CA Data storage Qualcomm San Diego, CA Cellular phone software RF Micro Devices Greensboro, NC Communications chips for wireless devices Sapient Cambridge, MA Internet strategy consulting Company Web site Advanced Digital www.adic.com Information Citrix Systems www.citrix.com Comverse Technology www.comverse.com Dell Computer www.dell.com DiamondCluster www.diamondcluster.com International Inc. FMC Corporation www.emc.com i2 Technologies, Inc. www.i2.com MCSi www.mcsinet.com Mercury Interactive www.mercury interactive.com Micrel www.micrel.com Network Appliance www.netapp.com Qualcomm www.qualcomm.com RF Micro Devices www.rfmd.com Sapient www.sapient.com Inclusion in the Fortune survey is regarded as a mark of distinction and success. Fundamentally, the companies examined for this article are in the "information business"; their work centers on creation, movement, protection, access, and use of information. These dynamic companies are in good positions to predict the future course of the information enterprise because they are shaping and inventing the business future for themselves. Of course, their public predictions are, to some degree, promotional pronouncements designed to appeal to potential customers. That caveat aside, however, these companies merit the attention of information professionals because their insights can help information professionals plan for their future.

Accent on Information-in-Action

A sense of almost breathless exuberance surrounds many of these companies -- their Web sites and reports are replete with news of new mergers, new products, and record earnings and stock values. They are geared to the robust world that moves on 24/7 "Internet time," develop new product lines to move information faster, strive for ways to enhance use, and are obsessed with information to increase customer satisfaction and retention. Some of the companies have distilled their essential messages to attention-grabbing slogans (some copyrighted or trademarked), themes, and images that convey: (1) Information is essential to the success of modern institutions; (2) Approaches need to be aggressive and dynamic to succeed; and (3) New strategies and partnerships are the order of the day. Examples include: "We Build Killer Apps" (DiamondCluster International, Inc., formerly Diamond Technology Partners); "What'll We Think of Next?" (Anuran Microwave); "Sell Ahead of the Curve" (Dendrite International); "Talent, Technology, and Innovation" (R.E Micro Devices); "High Tech/Low Cost/Smart Business" (Insight Enterprises); "More Memory/More Possibilities" (Scandisk); and "Build an E-business Without Limits by Bringing More Information to Life" (EMC).

Astounding Growth in Information Volume

Many of the companies in the survey report dramatic and continuing growth in the sheer amount of information available. In Advanced Digital Information's 1999 Annual Report, executives attributed much of the company's success to consistent and dramatic increases in the amount and value of information that was being accumulated around the world. An EMC news release announced with a flourish,

Welcome to the content big bang! The explosion in both individual and organizational data taking place over the next five years will dwarf all previous market forecasts for information storage. The world will need to store and manage more than 10,000 terabytes of digitized information by 2005 -- 50 times the amount being managed today. Enabled by dramatic advances in software storage and hardware technology, the plunging cost of storing digitized information, and a tremendous bandwidth expansion, the market for information storage products and services will likely exceed $100 billion by 2005 (EMC 2000). Internet: The Dynamic Engine of Change

Repeatedly, executives with the companies surveyed express the view that the Internet is a great transformational influence because it enables people to exchange so much information so easily over such great distances. Such abilities make it a stellar vehicle for selling products and services, dramatically expanding customer markets, and generally extending companies' reach. It has become the new marketplace, the meeting point of company and customer. Some companies feel that no one has yet grasped the full implications of this great information-handling system. Michael Dell of Dell Computer states:

The Internet must become your business. The use of the Internet throughout the business will be what ultimately distinguishes successful firms in all industries. In...