From Business Processes to Cooperative Information Systems: An Information Agents Perspective

Abstract

Modern enterprises are increasingly dependent on the continuous flow of information for virtually every aspect of their operations. This dependency on critical business information has instigated an increasing demand for globalization, streamlining of operations, and more importantly in a request for unified access to information resources that are distributed throughout a local or worldwide network. In this marketplace, enterprises must look for strategic advantages through computing infrastructures that are engineered for flexibility. It is thus not surprising that nowadays the fastest growing segment of corporate computing is in the area of open, distributed client-server applications. This increasingly decentralized and communication-focused business climate requires new kinds of applications that can be rapidly deployed and used throughout the business organization and outside the enterprise by its partners, suppliers and customers. Innovative companies with good partner relationships are beginning to share sales data, customer buying patterns and future plans with their suppliers and partners. This type of information collaboration requires new computing paradigms that deliver information services that are integrated, open in nature and global in their scope [460], [664].