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Companies need new attitudes - not web silos - for online success

Announcement posted by Fujitsu Australia Limited 14 Jun 2001

Traditional Australian businesses need to adopt new attitudes before they adopt new technology if they are to transform successfully into dot corporations, Fujitsu Australia General Manager, e-Business, Suzanne Pattie told a business gathering in Sydney today.

Addressing the Australian Marketing Institutes NSW Chapter, Ms Pattie said the key to becoming a dot corp was a change management mindset that permeated the entire organisation.

Too many companies that want to transition to dot corps are setting themselves up for failure because they dont understand their own business well enough, they dont understand this new person called the dot customer, and they dont understand what they have to change in their business to service that customer, she said.

The opportunity is there, but many corporations are being held back because they dont have the right mindset a change management mindset.

To become a dot corp, you need a vision. You have to understand the new way your company will operate, and what its going to look like in five to 10 years time. And you have to recognise the need to make logistical changes and introduce different processes.

Traditional corporations should heed the lessons of the failed dot coms when extending their business into an online environment, she added.

Many dot-bombs failed because they had an idea, but no business structure. They addressed just one part of the business model the online part, Ms Pattie said.

It is crucial to have a plan to understand what you want to do and where you want your company to go. Then you reengineer your business processes and bring in the technology to facilitate it. You dont implement technology without knowing what it is you want to achieve from it, and how you are going to do it.

A common mistake made by traditional businesses extending their enterprises online was building the web arm as a separate business.

You dont build a new business for online if you do, you end up operating in a web silo that isolates and frustrates customers when they try to deal with you in a different way, Ms Pattie said.

You extend your enterprise to the web by including it as one of your contact channels where the customer experience is the same.

While companies are starting to add personalisation, tracking and categorise content on their web sites, many are missing the value of the web as a marketing tool by simply publishing brochureware.

Becoming a dot corp gives you new, more comprehensive and accurate ways to capture valuable customer data that you dont get by publishing your brochureware and an email address for the webmaster, Ms Pattie added.

Its the difference between publishing company information as a community service, and creating a pool of customer data that becomes a powerful strategic marketing asset.

END


Notes to Editors

Fujitsu Australia Limited
http://www.fujitsu.com.au

Fujitsu is one of the world's leading IT&T organisations. Fujitsu technology solutions, from servers to e-Business applications, are powering the new Internet economy.

In Australia and New Zealand, Fujitsu is helping corporate and government customers design, build and operate IT&T solutions which offer competitive advantage in the internet world. The unique combination of Fujitsu's products, services and skills ensures customers benefit from proven infrastructure, e-Business know-how and e-Convergence technologies.

Fujitsu Australia Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited of Japan.


About Fujitsu Limited

Fujitsu is a leading provider of Internet-focused information technology solutions for the global marketplace. Its pace-setting technologies, best-in-class computing and telecommunications platforms, and worldwide corps of systems and services experts make it uniquely positioned to unleash the infinite possibilities of the Internet to help its customers succeed. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.48 trillion yen for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001. Internet: http://www.fujitsu.com/