Enterprise IT
A Sound Privacy Policy, A Sound Bottom Line
I try not to repeat myself. But you're obviously not listening. I really need you to do the right thing and fix a glaring omission on that expensive electronic-commerce site of yours. Back in the December 1996 issue of Network Computing, I wrote "Privacy Stewardship On Your Net" (see www. nwc.com/720/720colwalsh.html)</A>. My argument then needs to be repeated today: "You have as much responsibility for the privacy of others and appropriate use of data as you have for any other facet of the network infrastructure. For example, you probably have, or at least you should have, an explicit plan and policy for network security in place, likewise for the basics such as data backup. As network professionals, we spend our professional lives as the stewards of other people's data. The popularity of the Web exposes the fact that we have overlooked our most basic responsibility: the privacy of data."
ReadIt's Not a Digital Market, It's a Digital Payment System
My previous column addressed the importance of adding value to B2B (business-to-business) sites by taking some cues from the business-to-consumer side. I pointed out that your search to add value in any way--and by this I did not mean simply repackaging existing enterprise applications--would turn your users into consumers, and consumers demand choices. I also discussed the "shrinking margin" effect of Internet trading on financial markets. For more proof of diminishing margins, consider the insurance market. To compete on the Internet, companies have had to cut prices to ensure prime positioning on a search engine's results page. Traditional brokers have had to match those prices, and so for them, life insurance has become a service rather than a revenue generator.
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