During the last decade, the global market has lead to an increasing cooperation between enterprises covering the entire life cycle of products and services.

Networked Organisations

The resulting collaboration structures are usually called networked enterprises and encompass various organization forms, including enterprises and organisations with several locations, stable alliances between different partners similar to supply chains, temporary cooperations for project purposes like virtual enterprises and networks of enterprises with joint business objectives.

Creating New Business

Due to business drivers like customer focus, customized and compound products, cost reduction, focus on core competences or increasing flexibility, there is a general opinion that this trend will continue. All forms of networked organizations are dependent on adequate IT support. In this context, IT is not only the enabling technology, but has to actively contribute to creating new business.