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The biggest, most important issue in business today--becoming digital--touches not only traditional enterprises but the most avant-garde of Internet companies as well.Old-economy companies must take steps to avoid becoming victims of capitalism's creative destruction, the unofficial system that flushes out the old to make way for the new. For dot-com companies the question is whether or not they are flash-in-the-pan businesses with no long-term prospects of profitability and customer loyalty.Most of the early efforts to answer the question "How digital is your business?" have been shrouded in techno-speak: a veritable Tower of Babel unconnected with the real needs of business. Slywotzky and Morrison show, first of all, that becoming digital is not about any of the following: having a great Web site, setting up a separate e-business, having next-generation software, or wiring your workforce.What they so creatively demonstrate is that a digital business is one whose strategic options have been transformed--and significantly broadened--by the use of digital technologies. A digital business has strategic differentiation, a business model that creates and captures profits in new ways and develops powerful new value propositions for customers and talent. Above all, a digital business is one that is unique.How Digital Is Your Business? is a groundbreaking book with universal appeal for everyone in the business world. It offers:* Profiles of the future: the in-depth story of the digital pioneers--Dell Computer, Charles Schwab, Cisco Systems, Cemex.* Insight into how to change a traditional enterprise into a digital business: the stories of GE and IBM. * An analysis of the profitable dot-coms: AOL, Yahoo!, and eBay.While How Digital Is Your Business? has great stories and case studies, its most invaluable central idea is that of digital business design and the array of powerful digital tools it offers for use in creating a digital future for your own company.Within a very short time, the issue of how to become a digital company has become a major headache for the management of every company in every industry. Just about every company has Internet and digital initiatives, but with the exception of a select few, these efforts are more a jumble of activities (setting up web sites, writing the corporation, giving laptops to everyone) than a coherent digital strategy. The end-result is that, despite the expenditure of much time, effort, and money, most companies are not reaping the benefits of digitalization because they haven't thought through the purpose of digitalization from the standpoint of the major issues facing their business. A digital company uses technology to completely reverse the way business is done. Most companies guess about the demand for their product, even when they use the most modern of market research techniques. They produce it, market it and hope customers buy it. If they don't put on sale at huge discounts to make the way for next season's stuff. A digital company, on the other hand, gives customers exactly what they want. Dell, for example, uses technology -- the web -- so that customers can specify exactly the kind of computer their heart desires. Only then does Dell produce and ship the computer to the customer. There are tremendous benefits to this reversal: (1) There's no guesswork and risk. If you know what customers want and give it to them, you have no unsold inventory. (2) Customers buy more -- frequently the higher priced, more profitable products -- since they don't have to compromise. (3) Much greater productivity, profit and growth and the beginning of strategic control over your market. Becoming adigital company is not really about the Internet and the Web. It's about going back to basics. Before any digital initiative, ask first: "What are the top five business issues facing my company?" Only when you know the answers can you digitalize with the objective of improving and rede
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