April 1994

From Network World...

"Both management and IT experts generally agree that the technology necessary to support virtual organizations and fullfledged electronic commerce is either available or well within reach. But that doesn't mean that businesses can simply go out and implement it successfully. Before that happens, vast organizational changes must take place, and these will most likely be years in the making.

'To conduct business this way requires a lot of trust between parties. It also requires an absence of greed,' notes Edward McPherson, a director with the InterSolve Group. The Dallas-based consultancy is itself organized along virtual lines, assembling "teams of just-in-time talent" for individual consulting projects.

In today's business environment of cut-throat competition, trust and generosity aren't all that easy to come by, which is one reason why it will be 5 to 10 years before measurable progress is made, according to McPherson. 'We're only in the opening act with a lot of this,' he says."