ABSTRACT

Mr Graham Brant

General Manager

Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd

Digital Nervous System

In the coming years, digital technology will radically increase the speed at which business is conducted. It will change the relationship between businesses and their customers, and it will transform the roles of individual workers. How well an organization adapts to this changing business landscape will depend on the health of its internal digital processes its "digital nervous system."

Though a digital nervous system is built on a combination of hardware and software, it is not a product. Think of the role a biological nervous system plays in living organisms. It controls the basic systems respiratory, circulatory, digestive that make life possible. It also receives sensory stimuli, transmits them to the brain, and instantly triggers a response. In humans the nervous system makes it possible to think and plan with foresight and creativity.

An effective digital nervous system performs similar functions within an organization. It allows a company's internal processes to operate smoothly and quickly, enables an organization to respond to customer feedback quickly, gives it the ability to react to its competitive environment in a timely manner, and empowers employees with critical knowledge.

The key is how effectively an organization manages the flow of its digital information. All kinds of information numbers, text, audio, video can now be put into digital form. Widely available hardware and software has also made it possible and necessary for organizations of all sizes to reshape the way they conduct their business. In fact, many companies have already made many of the necessary investments in information technology to allow employees to obtain, store, share, and act upon information in new ways, from corporate intranets to the global network of the Internet.

Success in this kind of environment, however, entails more than deploying technology. The idea is to employ it in a way that enhances how people work and that transforms how organizations operate. Businesses must create digital processes that manage and deliver important information to the employees who need it, helping them to respond effectively to changes and new opportunities, make decisions quickly, and fix problems as soon as they arise.

Just as machinery provides tremendous physical power, digital processes can enhance organizational intelligence by giving workers the information necessary to be more effective. There is no standard digital nervous system. Because each business is different, its digital systems will reflect its unique needs and structure.

Ultimately, a digital nervous system will transform three major elements of any business: relationships to customers and business partners (commerce), information flow and relationships among workers within a company (knowledge management), and internal business processes (business operations). Microsoft is focused on developing products and partners that can help companies develop customized solutions in these three areas.

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