Abstract

We describe the intricate relationship between business processes and the underlying technology in an attempt to demonstrate that business organizations have always been technology driven. That is, the business processes have been tted to the available hardware and software. The technology determines the way business is conducted. With the advent of the Internet age, business processes will change radically, not because they are purposely reengineered, but because the Internet oers both to companies and customers radically dierent means of fullling their requirements. Thus, new business processes will emerge more or less autonomously, as people discover the opportunities oered to them by the new technology. The technical possibilities of today determine business consciousness. The current state of information and communication technology enables a migration from the information age to the age of immediate answers. After the underlying technology enables the possibilities, the business has the opportunity to align to it. 1

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