Chapter 9. Technology

Until not too long ago, businesses across most industries viewed technology as a support function only. However, in today's digital era, technology has become one of the most important components of an enterprise, regardless of the industry to which the enterprise belongs.

Technology is now critical even for traditional industries such as banking, as indicated by Ralph Hamers, the CEO of ING Bank, who said:

"We want to portray ourselves as a tech company with a banking license."[i]

In the digital era, it has become imperative for businesses to have technology as an integral part of their strategic objectives. This is even more critical now that consumers have become technology savvy and expect businesses to create value for them by leveraging technological innovations. Technology needs to be at the core of a company, in order to enable the enterprise to leverage the fast-changing environment to enhance competitive advantage and to achieve customer satisfaction.

This chapter...