Keeping the U.S. Computer Industry Competitive Systems Integration (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 4-15
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From page 4... ...
The storage capacity of dynamic random access memory chips quadruples about every four years, processing speeds increase at double-digit annual rates, and the cost of computing declines between 20 and 30 percent each year. Add to these computing trends a growing array of digital communication devices and related technologies, and the raw capabilities of modern information technology can astound.
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From page 5... ...
communications networks.i This has spawned an amalgam of uncoordinated networking initiatives, but many organizations remain untethered to the electronic connections that have sprouted over the last decade. Some small and midsize companies have formed information partnerships and pooled their resources to overcome the large financial and technical obstacles to exploiting the advantages of integrating and linking their information technology.2 Most have not.
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From page 6... ...
The remainder of this chapter provides a historical overview of the systems integration industry and of the trends underlying the growth of distributed computing networks. Chapter 2 describes applications of integrated information systems in business, as well as the challenges that information networking poses.
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From page 7... ...
computer sector, the systems integration industry is thriving and is positioned well ahead of stillembryonic foreign competition. In 1990, the systems integration industry had estimated revenues of $14.9 billion; revenues in 1991 were projected to grow 13 percent to $16.8 billion.4 Enlarging foreign markets, especially Europe, are expected to drive rapid revenue increases during the next five years.5 About 1,600 firms earn all or the bulk of their revenues from systems integration.
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From page 8... ...
have followed suit and have made networking applications a priority. Also vying in the market are retailer Sears, aircraft manufacturers McDonnell Douglas and Boeing, and accounting firms Arthur Andersen & Co., Price Waterhouse, Ernst and Young, and KPMG Peat Marwick.
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From page 9... ...
Allen was quoted as saying, was to create a company capable of providing "global networks as easy to use and as accessible as the telephone network is today."7 Also acting to strengthen its competitive position in the market for networking applications and services, the Lotus Development Corp., one of the country's largest independent software publishers, purchased cc:Mail, a company with expertise in electronic mail applications. Previously, Lotus and Novell Inc., the largest maker of software for managing networks of personal computers, had explored the possibility of a merger, another indication of how companies are maneuvering to compete in the growing market for intra- and internetworking products and services.
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From page 10... ...
Foreign firms with strengths in these building-block industries, such as the Japanese firms mentioned above, could leverage their technological advantages in the expanding market for computer and communications networks, especially if U.S. systems integration firms do not have timely access to new hardware products.
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From page 11... ...
Their aim is to integrate important innovations into standards as new technology nears commercial application, avoiding the ferment of de facto standardization and providing information-technology users with an efficient means of linking existing and new hardware and software. In practice, international standards bodies have far to go to achieve this model of efficiency, but proactive approaches significantly enhance the strategic importance of standards making.
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From page 12... ...
Just as significant as this diversity is the tremendous variety of complementing devices for communicating, gathering, and presenting information. Besides the familiar printer, the "peripheral" devices of computers now include copiers, facsimile machines, telephones, answering machines, pagers, scanners, electronic cameras, data-storage devices, optical and electronic sensors, and a vast and growing array of computer-controlled machinery.
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From page 13... ...
In effect, said Robert L Martin, vice president for software technology and systems at Bell Communications Research, the benefits now being reaped by firms that have invested in their own information networks would be extended to small businesses and individuals.
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From page 14... ...
Recently announced initiatives include research and development projects on interoperable database systems and improved graphical user interfaces, modeling studies of "information age cities," and several cooperative research programs aimed at helping developing countries build their own information networks.9 Colloquium participants did not see U.S. government and industry as attending to the nation's information infrastructure with the same levels of determination and comprehensiveness as those exhibited in Japan and Europe.
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From page 15... ...
, the reader is referred to the so-called "Sixth Generation" or New Information Processing Technology (NIPT) project currently proposed by MITI and discussed in its Report of the Research Committee on New Information Processing Technology, Industrial Electronics Division, Machinery and Information Industries Bureau, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, March 1991.
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