InformationWeek

December 18/25, 2000

Technology Of The Year

Featured Technologies:

CRM: Customers Take Control
The Internet gives customers more options, making the need for CRM applications more important to businesses than ever.

XML: The Language Of E-Business
The young standard spans a variety of industries and has become the universal data interchange language.

Wireless: Taking To The Airwaves
Despite its drawbacks and limitations, wireless Internet access took off this year, with business professionals leading the way

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welve months ago, technology managers around the world were obsessing about a potential Y2K meltdown. Through lots of hard work, the crisis was averted--and quickly forgotten. IT budgets were once again freed up to take on more forward-looking projects.

And there's been much to choose from: operating systems such as Windows 2000 and Linux, customer-relationship management applications, XML and Java tools, mobile devices and wireless services, networking infrastructure, E-commerce apps, and more powerful PCs and servers. As the year winds down, which one of these technologies or products--and hundreds of others that came into play in business IT environments--was the most significant? Which facilitated the most--or most important--business change?

InformationWeek editors mulled over those questions and, based on our observations, interviews with IT and business managers, an informal Web poll, and some internal debate, came up with an answer: CRM applications. XML came in a close second.

As dot-com business models showed their vulnerabilities, many businesses focused harder on fundamentals--with customer service and retention at or near the top of the list. CRM is causing many companies to rewire their business processes, and even their thought processes, to be more customer-centric.

XML is an enabling technology that soon will be incorporated into many IT products. It's one of those foundational technologies that promises to radically simplify the job of integrating disparate systems and application data. In large part, XML will make business-to-business commerce possible.

This year also saw the rise of all things wireless. Traveling professionals commonly carry notebook computers, cell phones, pagers, or handheld devices for scheduling, E-mail, and Internet access--sometimes all of the above. It's clear that more people are productive in more ways when they're equipped for mobile communications.

Other products and technologies that have been of major importance this year include tools for building company Web portals, networking equipment for bulking up Internet infrastructures, and Windows 2000.

Illustration by James O'Brien

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