Last update at http://inet.nttam.com : Thu May  4 12:36:17 1995

Internet; increasing the benefit and reducing the (hidden) cost

This paper will focus on how to increase the benefit and
reduce the costs of establishing a commercial service on the Internet
today.
Quite a number of organisations are capable today of implementing
the technical means for connection and information exchange on
Internet.
This by itself does not create a competetive edge for their business.
There is more ground to be covered to acheive this.
We will focus in our presentation on different ways to increase
commercial exploitation of internet capabilitues as well as how to
reduce related costs.

Based on Porters value chain we will analyse the need for informati-
on of different parties involved in a business process. The capability
to provide the right information, in the right form, for the right price
at the right time forms the basis of beneficial exploitation of the
Internet.

To fully exploit the Internet capabilities available most companies
face the chalenge to interface (on application and information level)
the required Front office services with ( the often widely diffused)
Back office applications, databases and networks. This might prove
to be a costly and troublesome experience. Quite some time here is
spent  in choosing the right standards for supporting the integration
of old and new information systemens.

The "Me-too-effect" is occupying the minds of Dutch companies
today. Thanks to the Al Gore Hype.
Companies are eager to enter and provide information they consider
worthwhile, often without proper investigation of their chances to
create a substantial userdemand for their service. Hence they involve
themself in a costly adventure without clear sight on any potential
benefits.
In this presentation we will address the use of Internet as a commu-
nications medium between organisations (and individuals). We want
a closer look on factors that drive the need for information.
Currently providers face the problem that most Internet usage is
based on window-shopping/glancing and not on the professional
buying of services. Information consumers and suppliers just jumped
on the bandwagon of the electronic highway and hold high expectati-
ons for business benefits.
Early adopters are starting with information storefronts. Behind the
often well dressed shopping-windows, the shop itself is often empty
and the concrete buying of services still "under construction". On-
line ordering and other interactive enhancements are lacking. Most
companies need to get used to the Internet culture where purchasing
service is often the result of almost random navigation of users
through "cyberspace", search tools and directories.

At Twijnstra Gudde, we use the so called strategic square or model.
It can be used to develop a strategy based on these four questions:
What do we want , What are we able to do? , what must be done and
what is feasible ?
In this case it is useful when considering alternative strategies for
exploiting Internet capabilities for business and it can help your
organisation when you want to establish a service. We consider the
following steps necessary for establishing and maintaining a service
as a provider.
The first step is to invent a service that supports a businessprocess.
We use Porters value chain and examples taken from the book
"Doing bussiness on the Internet" by Mary J. Cronin.
The next three steps are to develop, implement and promote the
service, after this the service can be optimized and costs might be
reduced.

When you have established a clear goal, based on the need for
information by different parties involved, it is time to develop the
service.
Three main area's of expertise are required for this:
 - communication and marketing,
 - organisation
 - technical

To implement the service in practice a design and planning must be
rolled out. The required functionality must be translated to Internet
capabilities.
In order to interoperate with other systems connected to the Internet
and to ease the integration, standards and product must be purchased
or hired/rented.
The initial investment can remain quite low (thanks to a large
number of WWW-providers). To enter the next fase of interactive
Internet-presence, most companies face a more troublesome (and
costly) effort to re-engineer and integrate the information systems in
the office with the Internet-Store-front. It's in this area where
internal use of Internet-based technolgy will assure ease of compati-
bility.
Judging from our experience E-Mail can prove very effective to
provide the missing link between front and backoffice and support
the bussiness process. To efficiently manage the change of technolo-
gy it is important to choosing the right combination of standards for
a certain period of time. Three processess need to be taken into
consideration for this, they are: the standardisation process (commu-
nity arena), the manufacturing process (vendors) and the implemen-
tation and usage (your organisation). Other optional management
instruments are freezing all processes from time to time using:.
standards- & procurement profiles and prefered suppliers, testing
(conformance & interoperability) an integrated management platform
(WWW-MIB) and last but not least consistent naming and addres-
sing.

The next step to further integrate the Front-store with the Back-
Office the customer's questions, queries, orders etc. as well as
replies, can be moved via E-Mail (or WWW-SQL-Gateway) to the
internal desktop (and databases).

Not all design problems can be solved internally today. Internet-
security and Internet Cashregisters are still evolving today and
developments need to be closely monitored.

After  the Service is established and stable the organisation should
measure it's use and optimize it where possible.

Joop Veenis
Twijnstra Gudde Management consultants
Pobox 907, 3800 AX Amersfoort
the Neterlands
jve@tg.nl

A short introduction of my company and myself
I work for Twijnstra Gudde. We are active in the field of building
project management, organisation advise, IT consultancy and inte-
rim management. We are a well known and respected management
consultancy bureau in the Netherlands. We do not sell hardwa-
re/software but advise our customers for instance on what to buy
and how to organise change, projects and their
business. We were founded 30 years ago and employ about 450
people today. I work in the IT and Telematics group (20 persons) and
I am responible for consulting activities involving Internet technolo-
gy for government and commercial organisations.

Definition (Greiner and Metzger)
Management consulting is an advisory service contracted for and
provided to organisations by specially trained and qualified persons
who assist, in an objective and independent manner, the client
organisation to identify management problems, analyse such pro-
blems, recommend solutions to these problems and help, when
requested, in the implementation of solution.
More common definition:
Management consulting is an uncertain and evolving process con-
ducted by a foreign intruder who muddles through by performing
various problem-solving activities, while trying to maintain high
professional standards and still attempting to meet the needs of the
client