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Business Outlook

ELECTRONIC SAVING from page 21

Business Trends

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Myles Stern, an associate professor at
the Wayne State University Business
School in Detroit, specializes in infor-
mation systems and is a consultant to
Levich's company. He sees numerous
small businesses like the Floor Club
taking advantage of new technologies
that were once available only to the
biggest companies. -
Some significant trends Stern sees •
are:
• Wireless networking — This
trend isn't strong yet, but it's starting
to catch on. With palm pilots and
other wireless communications, busi-
ness people can connect to the
Internet, communicate within their
company, and
check files, data
and reports.
Other equip-
ment that has
always required
hard-wire con--
nections -can also
be a part of the
wireless revolu-
tion, like time
clocks and print-
ers.
• Software
development —
Stern refers to
enterprise
High-speed computers and phones have helped Bart Levich cut
resource planning costs and improve service.
systems (ERP)
•
when describing
this trend. It
started with big corporations, but it's
ed by good anti-virus software and
taking hold in smaller companies
good firewalls — all kept current,"
now, too.
Stern advises.
ERP can manage a company's entire
• Internet commerce — If the most
business flow, including order process- ubiquitous use of the Internet for
ing, inventory, purchasing, planning
commerce is retailing to the public,
and scheduling, production, cost
there is a staggering amount of busi-
management, project tracking, .
ness-to-business commerce the public
accounting and customer service.
never sees.
The benefits to a company can
"When it comes to doing business
include providing better service and
with other business via the Internet,"
more effective selling, managing
declares Stern, "technology is the great
scheduling tasks, improving perform-
equalizer."

•

INSURANC

ance and efficiency, minimizing
inventory shortages and inventory
investment, and improving manage-
ment decisions.
"The new software can coordinate
all of the activities of a company, can
tie all the systems together," says
Stern. "It can tie human resources to
sales to accounting to manufactur-
ing.''
This kind of data coordination
allows a manager to analyze the corn-
pany's performance more efficiently.
"In the past, this kind of merging of
information had to be done manual-
ly," explains Stern. "The new software
ties everything together automatical-
ly."
• Network security — Companies
communicate online, do their bank-
ing online, take part in electronic
commerce online. But along with all
of the advantages of high-speed con-
nection to the Internet come dangers
— malicious hackers, disgruntled
employees, unscrupulous competitors
and fast-spreading viruses.
'All of this activity must be protect-

Staff photos by Krista Husa

company if we wanted to," says
Levich, "but I still do some things the
old ,way.
Levich also likes having information
at his fingertips. "I can get instant
management reports, a snapshot of
the business, any time I want. Sales,
receivables, costs — it's all there."