vTechnology
breakthroughs — in on-line databases, terminals, networks, and large scale
permanent storage — caused existing applications to become obsolete and
created a need for a whole class of new applications (circa 1970).
˛The concepts associated with on-line databases — databases connected to and fed by networked terminals — promised an end to management isolation if management would only:
* view information as a key resource;
* build a
totally consistent, company-wide, database;
* ensure that
information was entered into and
updated in that database as soon as it
entered
the company.
˛The vision — all of the organization’s information is instantly available in up-to-date, accurate, and consistent form at the touch of a keyboard, allowing faster operations and enabling everyone in the organization to stay in touch with the real world.