Generation eBusiness
Gartner said that the eBiz hype of the last two year is over. Companies realized that eBiz will become a part of their traditional sales activities. Furthermore it will become an additional channel of their sales and collaboration tasks. The major technology around eBiz is definitly web. To use all the standards which has been defined (html, EDI, pdf etc.) in the past or will be defined (XML etc.) in the near furture will be THE platform to unify all procedures of communication between companies.
Knowledge sustainment
A lot of information as a result of our daily work is distributed over many different storages and medias. Different front-ends with different security mechanisms repress the development of productivity within our teams of employees. No wonder that obviours the employees are not motivated enough to store their knowledge ino information systems. Neverthenless, technology can only enforce by meanse of usability, performance and a minimum affort for maintanence. Organizational aspects have to make it benefitial to all employees to share their knowledge within the teams rather than defend their positions. Because never in history knowledge was so important and can enable so much than today.
Network liberated organizations
As a result of globalization and electronic markets the transparency for the customer will drametically increase. This means that only the most effective and successful specialists in each segments will survive. Being a specialist means to get rid of all tasks which are not part of your core business such as accounting, logistics, production, service etc.
Therfore collaboration between companies will converge to collaboration within employees of a company. The tools have to integrate employees of different companies thogether and considering security at the same time.