InformationWeek

Next Up: C-Commerce

Traditional supply-chain models and simple information sharing via the Internet will be replaced by "collaborative commerce," in which multiple companies will communicate via the Internet, according to a report last week from Gartner Group. The impact of this development will fall largely on the shoulders of enterprise resource planning vendors, who'll have to extend open-yet-secure architectures, ultimately creating virtual enterprises, says Bruce Bond, a research director at Gartner. What's the impact on tech departments? "IT managers and CIOs will have to start looking at external integrations," says Bond. "It will be imperative for them to figure out how to open their enterprises while maintaining security and keeping a high level of customization. Ultimately, they will have to substantially change or overhaul their IT skill sets."