From The Editor

There's no business like i-business

	Etta Levine Editor Information Builders Magazine

Like no business I know Familiar lyrics? Maybe, but with all due respect to Ethel Merman we're talking i-biz, not show-biz! Take a look at our new i-business ads. Perhaps you've already seen one or more of these advertisements in trade publications like Computerworld or InformationWeek or, for the first time, in the leading business press such as The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. You'll notice that Information Builders has a whole new look and a winning software solution for people who want to stay on top of their business in today's fast-paced, competitive, wired world.

Information Builders President and founder Gerry Cohen spells out i-business most eloquently in his message, explaining that the term refers to any Internet-driven organization that uses information in an intelligent fashion... and that i-business doesn't replace e-business but, rather, is an integral part of a company's overall e-business strategy.

As you read through this special year-end issue of Information Builders Magazine, many i-words will pop out at you. Words like Internet. It's back to the future as we examine how the likes of Ford Motor Company, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida International University, and Canada's Royal & SunAlliance Insurance Company "bridge" their mainframe FOCUS applications to the Internet, using WebFOCUS to access legacy data and applications and to report on critical business issues.

Words like Integration, as in the article by EDA Division Vice President John Senor, titled Internet Application Integration.

And International. See how communications giant Lucent Technologies won a race against time as they went live with a global rollout of SAP financials; and how Toyota Belgium migrated files from legacy apps to R/3 in record time – with help from Information Builders' ERP software solutions. Yes, i-business changes everything and it may very well change the way you do business.

I invite you all – especially our long-time customers – to share some memories and insights as we prepare our lively 25th Anniversary Issue. Send success stories, anecdotes, photos, souvenirs, trivia, memorabilia or other tidbits via Letter to the Editor. It'll be fun and prizes will be awarded for the 50 best entries. See you in 2000!

Etta Levine
etta_levine@ibi.com