IV.  The Outcome - From Data to Process

    A.  An outdated data-centric Information Technology philosophy is being reshaped into a 
        process-oriented Information Technology philosophy

        1.  During the past 20 years, the driver of systems has been the lowest common 
            denominator - "data".  And, more bluntly, the "dumbest" of data management 
            practices - "data retrieval" - has been the foundation upon which the data 
            processing systems "edifice" has been built.  Essentially, paper processes have 
            been memorialized in binary code.

        2.  It's been about 40 years, now, since databases began replacing filing cabinets.  
            But, as though lacking intelligence, the euphemistic "information technology system" 
            continues to do nothing more than retrieve whole documents or records and regurgitate 
            them on the CRT screen.

        3.  And, with little thought to the user's (most often the customer service representative) 
            intent or context of operation.  So, the customer hangs on the line while the 
            service rep threads through, often redundant, data to get the required information.  
            Why should the CSR have to go to the purchasing system to find out what products or 
            services the customer already has, the financial system for account information, 
            and the billing system for an address?

            a)  In the "good old days" it used to be you could throw infrastructure money at 
                this "problem" - hire more CSRs, get another customer service database, etc.

            b)  Not anymore in this post-boom world!

        "A picture is worth a thousand words"