Letter from our President of the Enterprise
Products Group, Tom Burns

Dear Customers,

As creatures of habit, both individuals and organizations have historically been resistant to change. This is primarily because of the discomfort and uncertainty that it invariably introduces. In today's environment, however, few can afford to ignore the need to adapt to an always-changing landscape. The dynamics of a global economy, the constant introduction of innovative technologies and the relentless emergence of competitors have contributed to what many are calling a transformation imperative.

Individuals – employees, customers and partners alike – are consequently demanding environments that don't just support transaction processing, but enable them to share knowledge so that they can interact to meet both personal career and corporate objectives. This dynamic sheds light on the growing popularity of things like social networking services, blogs and wikis – and other technologies that fall under Web 2.0 over an all-IP infrastructure. It is a phenomenon that is forcing enterprises to reconsider how they respond to user needs while addressing critical network security concerns.

The emergence of social networking over a common communications platform is also breaking down the silos that separate peers. It is even reducing the distance between C-level executives and the most innovative and creative thinking that is occurring on the front lines of organizations. 

At the center of all this is a holistic view of information, made up of both explicit knowledge, structured into databases; and tacit knowledge, based on peoples' experience, expertise and talent. The latter was previously untapped. It was untapped because it was not accessible to a wide audience.

New collaborative usages such as Enterprise 2.0 services are offering new opportunities to transform this knowledge into actionable information, enriched by contributions, comments from virtual teams and ultimately strengthened by the “wisdom of crowds.” Real-time communications are poised to play a critical role in what we call connected knowledge – or the ability to get the right information from the right person, on the right device, at the right time, whether at the office or in a mobile environment – to make a difference in a business situation.

This is the foundation of our vision for The Dynamic Enterprise, where network, people, processes and knowledge are interconnected in real time to transform interactions into business opportunities.

The articles that follow have been created by people who interact, contribute, share and communicate critical insight and intelligence in non-hierarchical, interactive communications environments. They are the pioneers of The Dynamic Enterprise community. We invite you to join us as we explore the possibilities.

Sincerely,

Tom Burns
President, Enterprise Products Group
Alcatel-Lucent