How E-Business is making the Middle East more profitable (page 4 of 4)

One investment bank is even giving customers a PDA to access its internal banking systems, to execute transactions more conveniently than with its competitors.

Mobile-enabling applications can dramatically increase ROI and improve the effectiveness of business processes, particularly when used by the mobile field force. When they read domestic meters at the customer site, field employees at utility companies are now using mobile devices connected to the Internet to deliver complete billing information to head office. Police authorities in Italy and the Netherlands are using handheld devices to access updated information at the central office while out on patrol.

Modern parking solutions now enable drivers to pay their parking fees by mobile telephones, so they no longer have to search for coins or change notes. Customs officers in the field can have protected mobile access to databases containing information like shipping documentation and police records. It makes search and administration functions much easier and faster and streamlines the customs clearance process.

Because of speed and convenience, wireless use is on the rise worldwide. In the next few years, executives will expect their information to follow them wherever they go. As the younger generation grows up, they will not understand why people had to work at a desk or why their telephones were tied to the wall!

Security
Research by InformationWeek concluded that the cost of security-related downtime to businesses in the past 12 months was $1.39 trillion worldwide. Unprecedented cooperation is needed among government, businesses and citizens to protect a nation's critical infrastructure against cyber attack by deploying enhanced internet security measures. These must protect the communications infrastructure, commerce, government, utilities and other essential services.

The more complicated an organisation's computing infrastructure, the more likely it will contain vulnerabilities for hackers to find and exploit. E-business simplifies the software and makes it easier to work with specialist security protection software. This is already in widespread use by government agencies that deal with highly classified information.

Correctly designed, such procedures will minimise risk and secure the confidentiality and integrity of the organisation's information. It will not just protect it from cyber attack, but from system failure and human error, while minimizing the management cost of the entire infrastructure.

e-Government
Governments are also embracing the internet to provide services to business (G2B), citizens (G2C), and government-to-employee (G2E).

The drivers for eGovernment are to save cost through more efficient processes and more integrated government agencies, as well as to improve service through a higher degree of self service for citizens and businesses by taking advantage of internet and other electronic channels.

However, providing a seamless online service to citizens and business requires integration between the front and the back office functions within each department. It also requires integration across boundaries of agencies and departments.

Are you prepared?
The open connected community of the Internet is bringing together organisations and their suppliers, partners and customers; governments and their citizens; and consumers throughout the world. Forward-looking companies and public bodies are harnessing its power to build a secure, globally integrated economy, reduce complexity and promote international trade. This is bringing automated processes, business transparency, centralised operations and a single instance of software.

Ultimately, Alan Greenspan acknowledges that, with technology as a provider of critical information, recessions will never be the same. "Contractions initially may be steeper but, because imbalances are more readily contained, cyclical episodes overall should be less severe than would be the case otherwise".
Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle visit our website at http://www.oracle.com/me