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The Real-Time Enterprise: Not Optional Tuesday, 8 October 2002 View the Webcast If you do not feel comfortable in an extremely competitive, high-speed business environment, then move to a place where government policies and restrictions stand in the way of a free enterprise system, suggested Gartner analyst Andy Kyte during the Monday morning Gartner Mastermind Keynote. "Or you could start a new political party," Mr. Kyte added, "where the mantra is, 'We want less, and we don't mind how long we wait for it.'" That drew chuckles from the audience who attended the keynote, entitled The Need for Speed - Building the Real-Time Enterprise. However, acclimating to the increasingly rapid pace and changing scope of business is no laughing matter. "The real-time enterprise (RTE) is not an option," said Gartner analyst Steve Prentice, who served as the moderator for the keynote panel discussion, which included Mr. Kyte as well as fellow Gartner analysts Gene Phifer, Barbara Gomolski and Daryl Plummer. "The RTE is not an option, building an enterprise architecture is not an option, and demonstrating the business value of IT is not an option," Mr. Prentice stated emphatically. Garter formally defines an RTE as "an enterprise that competes by using up-to-date information to progressively remove delays to the management and execution of its critical business processes." Layered on top of Monday's central theme, "the need for speed," were three subplots: "no limits," "no fear" and "no walls." Mr. Kyte began the RTE overview by using the analogy of waiting in line at the supermarket, being in the typical rush, and seeing the person in front of you pull out a checkbook - not cash, not a debit or credit card, not something quick and easy, but rather an old-fashioned checkbook. "Immediately your blood starts to boil," Mr. Kyte said. "Of course, it's always you, never the other person, who needs to be somewhere, whose time is so important. We can't wait. We want service. We expect service. It is our right." The same principle holds true when a customer calls a company's help center. They want information, and they can't afford to wait. And the enterprise can't afford to make them wait. The RTE needs to be flexible, nimble and fast - although not carelessly fast. "We say real-time enterprise, but we really could have called it the right-time enterprise," Mr. Phifer said. "The idea is to deliver the right information when it is needed. Let me caution you: Speed for speed's sake is a bad thing. The idea is to reduce process cycle times to an appropriate speed." Mr. Phifer said he was not an immediate convert when he was introduced to the concept of RTE, which is to be expected. "At Gartner, there are three salary levels for analysts - the skeptic, the cynic, and the curmudgeon," Mr. Phifer joked. "So, I was skeptical when I first heard about this new thing called RTE. I thought, 'Oh, those marketing people are at it again; here's yet another three-letter acronym that we have to learn and support.' But I looked at the idea of RTE and eventually became a believer." Mr. Plummer focused on the new enterprise architecture aspect of the RTE. He emphasized that companies need to ensure that their systems pass information back and forth quickly and that their enterprise architecture extends beyond just internal boundaries. To do this, an enterprise nervous system, or ENS, is required. "The enterprise nervous system begins to build the grid for a biological evolution of systems," Mr. Plummer said. "One, you've got to get an ENS. Two, you've got to get outside the cubicle and inside the business. Finally, you've got to build a common view." John Allen Gartner Staff |
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