Business processes in modern companies -- Inter-company business processes and e-collaboration -- Business process management in real-time companies -- Real value in real time -- Competitive response: a new lens for evaluating company performance -- The Real-Time Enterprise Facts, practices and prospects -- Typical examples from industries -- Building the Real-Time Enterprise at DaimlerChrysler -- Real-time-oriented service architectures in the airline sector -- The Extended Enterprise — Economic integration in real-time -- Strategic perspectives for the hotel industry -- Technological networking -- Technical networking -- Designing more productive business processes with convergent networks -- QoS Architectures and Resource Management in the Intranet -- Technical process support -- Business process evolution in real-time -- I&C Technologies for a Real-Time Enterprise (RTE) -- Enterprise security -- Secure mobile business solutions for real-time enterprises -- Identity & Access Management Faster ROI and improved security through efficient assignment of rights and access control -- Real-time business requires security, trust and availability -- Outsourcing -- Intelligent IT sourcing in the financial industry: background, preconditions and requirements of future IT organization design -- Outsourcing as a strategic management decision -- Less costs, more functionality -- Challenges facing qualification and management -- Visual management -- From CIO to Chief Process Officer -- How to be switched on — without being switched off -- The steps in evolving into an “E-Enterprise” -- The RTE: it starts with early warnings -- Towards the E-Enterprise: standards, networks and co-operation strategies -- The evolution to real-time architecture -- Distributed mini-factory networks as a form of real-time enterprise: concept, flexibility potential and case studies -- Organic IT: cut IT costs, speed up business -- Living and working in a global network -- Delivering the promise. Making it pervasive -- The visions -- Knowledge-based companies — objectives and requirements -- Living and working in a networked world: ten trends -- Swarm organization — a new paradigm for the E-enterprise of the future -- Young professionals look to the communication of tomorrow -- Information and communication in 20XX.

Speed as a factor for success Our modern industrial society lives life in the fast lane. The catchwords “faster”, “shorter”, “more powerful” reflect what we experience in almost all aspects of our lives. Whether at home or at work, we are constantly on the move and in a rush. In our private lives we find rapid exchange of inf- mation most entertaining and we are fascinated by the wide range of inf- mation that pours in on us from all around the world, mainly via the new media. It gives us the feeling of being a part of the action everywhere and all the time. Seldom are we aware that the only reason this flood of inf- mation, often referred to as “overstimulation”, does not lead to overkill is that we manage to organize our time effectively. There are many parallels to this in the business world. Here too, a great deal of time pressure is exerted from outside; goals are set ever higher and deadlines become tighter. In other words, demands on our time demand faster reaction. Crucial information travels around the globe – across all time zones – in a matter of seconds. In fact, instead of CET or CEST, it would make sense to have a single time zone for the worldwide network called GST for Global Simultaneous Time. In business more so than in p- vate life, we are almost constantly online.