How Winning Companies Sense and Respond to Change Using Real-Time Technology. Meet the future head-on with this incisive book that details emerging trends that will affect all businesses as they progress through the 21st century. Today's technology has become vital to the speed and performance of business. The fast-paced, high-stakes world of technology is infiltrating business everywhere, through the extensive use of high-speed networks, powerful desktop computers, the Internet, and integrated information across many systems. Customers are also demanding that everything be done faster, at lower cost without sacrificing quality. How will your company compete and prosper in the new millennium? How can you raise your company above the ravages of creeping commoditization and gain that crucial, elusive competitive advantage? The answers lie in becoming event-driven. Event-driven companies (those that acquire, deploy, and wisely exploit real-time information) are the most successful at sensing and responding to the events that drive their businesses. They use the power of real-time information to drive the development and delivery of new products and services. The winning approach presented in this book will benefit any company competing in this age of globalization, emerging technologies, and ever-increasing competition. After reading this book, you will be able to employ the technology to create real-time operations, and you will have the tools, mindset, and organizational structure that enable you to do the right thing at the right time. And the right time is now.