IBM 1997 Annual Report Download - page 16

aS A RULE, WE DON’TLIKE
TO INJECT JARGON INTO THE LANGUAGE OF INFOR-
MATION TECHNOLOGY.But in 1997 we indulged our-
selves. We coined the phrase “e-business” to talk
about the value our customers derive from networked
computing, to describe how they are reinventing their
business models around networked transactions of
every kind — among employees, with suppliers, with
trading partners, and of course, with customers.
We’ve also found that e-business is a powerful,
unifying message for IBM itself. As a customer makes
its website the front door to the enterprise, the action
shifts to powerful servers — the kind of industrial-
strength computing systems IBM has built for decades.
With millions of potential customers coming through
that cyber front door, our customers need heavy-duty
transaction and database software — another of our
strong suits. To plan their e-business strategy, they
need expert assistance up front — the kind of solutions
consulting we specialize in. And to implement their
strategy fast and cost-effectively, they demand a range
of services — like those from IBM Global Services, the
world’s leading information technology services provider.
We completed thousands of e-business engagements
last year, and we expect the number of our customers
doing e-business will double in 1998.
14
the buzzstartshere