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1. Intro…

in the year 2024, the Internet Economy has grown more rapidly than anyone could have
envisioned even five years ago, opening up new vistas of communication, collaboration
and coordination between consumers, businesses and trading partners worldwide. What
started out as an alternative marketing channel has quickly turned into a complete
economic system consisting of (i) ubiquitous, low cost communication networks using
Internet technologies and standards, (ii) applications and human capital that enable
business to be conducted over this network infrastructure, (iii) interconnected electronic
markets that operate over the network and applications infrastructure, (iii) producers and
intermediaries providing a variety of digital products and services to facilitate market
efficiency and liquidity, and (iv) emerging policy and legal frameworks for conducting
business over the Internet.

2. Business Opportunity

BulkTrans (BT) is the largest specialised fuel transport company in South Africa. BT
consists of four separate companies namely Bulktrans, Highway Junction, Highway
Motors and Jacks. BT makes use of Internet technologies, however there is room for
improvement. The following model/framework will be used to assess the use of Internet
technologies in BulkTrans (BT)
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Table 1: A model for assessing the use of Internet technologies.

This model does not fully reflect the impact of people on Internet technologies. It does
not provide for aspects like security and ROI. It is for this reason that the author has
made a modification to the model, as illustrated below.

3. Business Systems thinking

This is an important aspect to BT. BT’s IT section created business systems (people,
process, technology and data) that match the needs of business and that assist
operations with business systems thinking. The result is that business and IT and
operations are closely intertwined for the benefit of employees and clients.
The main aim is to add value to the business. The Internet is used as a platform for
developing and deploying critical business applications to support business operations.
a very simple model to clarify the interaction between people, process and
technology.

4. Architecture planning
This planning is done in BT’s IT department. This department deals with software,
hardware and networking requirements. The IT department has a new head which sit in
on the strategic and operational planning of the business and can therefore do informed
architectural planning that will suit the needs of BT.

5. IT Architecture

BT’s IT architecture consists of AS 400 PC’s & Terminal servers linked to a Wide Area
Network (WAN) and Local Area Network (LAN). The network is linked to Internet
through a firewall. The computers and the Website is linked to a database for information
to be dropped into.

The resources BT employs to administer a Website include the IT people doing the
work, the financial resources (be it actual money or the systems purchased) and the
information resources.
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Figure 3: Tools and mechanisms to enable the use of an Internet infrastructure

The above diagram shows some of the mechanisms available for creating deliverables
without having to go the traditional route and creating the mechanisms from scratch.
These mechanisms are available in software packages that can be installed.

The Internet technologies used by BT are a wide area network, uploading and
downloading of files and Web browsing, E-mail, and a currently dysfunctional Website.
However BT has outsourced the revamping and reactivation of its Website.
It is critical for BT to ensure that when using a Website it will add value to the business.
If its Website is employed as a fad or as a stand-alone issue it will probably fail.
Internet technologies assisted BT to implement and monitor their transport vehicles by
means of electronic mapping, surveillance tracking devices, e-mail and cell phones.

A BT employee can use his/ her Internet browser and his/ her PC workstation to send
and receive e-mail, voicemail, paging and faxes to communicate internally and externally
through the Internet, thereby significantly improving communications and collaborations
such as the diary for meeting scheduling. He/ she can also use Internet groupware
features to improve communication with services such as discussion groups, chat rooms
and audio and video conferencing. The Internet software browser can help navigate and
locate the business information he/ she needs. Using Telnet, enable BT operatives to
login to another computer from a distance. By means of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) BT
operatives are able to receive files from a computer at a distance and to examine and
store them on their own computers.
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BT uses the World Wide Web (WWW). The WWW is a multi media information system
that makes documents (hypermedia) available. Hypermedia lets BT add, access, and
navigate links in textual and multimedia information: texts, images, sound or software.
WWW integrates e-mail, telnet, FTP and gopher. With hypermedia features, Web
applications can provide clearer information, and they can be easier and more effective
to use than traditional applications.

BT uses Video conferencing as a tool to enable real-time video/audio conferences

between their networked PC’s, known as desktop video conferencing or networked
conference rooms or auditoriums in different locations, called teleconferencing. This
provides to be an efficient, economical and effective way of supporting communications
and collaboration among BT’s physically displaced teams and workgroups. Reducing
travel time and money to attend meetings results in increased team productivity as well
as savings in terms of cost and time.

Apart from basic Web-enabled technologies BT is also using wireless communications –

cell phones, voice mail, e-mail from notebooks and palmtop or hand-helds , Mobility, and
geographical positioning systems at BT attempts to decrease the distance between the
originator and the receiver of the communication by decreasing geographical distances
and to establish a one-to-one relationship. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
essentially allow BT’s users to interconnect with the Internet via mobile phones,
palmtops, personal data assistants (PDA’s), inter-active television and pagers for
information retrieval, to collaborate with other users and to access other applications
whilst on the move.
BT does not have an intranet or extranet – which would have been a logical extension of
their WAN. Intranet is a term used to describe an organization’s private network (local
area network), brand on Internet protocols that can be used to access one or more
internalWebsites. BT ‘s concern for data security and the risk of having unauthorized
access to sensitive information is hindering the adoption of an intranet or extranet.
(external access to their intranets by customers and suppliers).The cost of extranets is
also regarded as an impeding factor.
According to extranets can be costly in terms of:
 Security,
 Web servers and development,
 Legacy systems integration,
 Ongoing support and maintenance.
 Requiring a large amount of IS time and energy.

6. Service delivery

Service delivery is one of the key differentiators for BT and has proven a draw card for
new clients. Service to buyers can be improved by using the Website to monitor stock
levels and stock management as well as contact with buyers, thereby adding value to
buyers through increased feedback to the supplier.
Using Internet technology enabled BT to dramatically reduce or even eliminate the time
it takes to deliver information, products, and services on demand.

7. Vendor Development and Contract monitoring

Because service delivery is so critical to the success of the business the development of
vendors and contract monitoring have been identified as important areas for BT to focus
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on. This focus takes the form of a dedicated role (Manager – IT Networks) that builds
long-term mutually beneficial relationships with vendors and ensures that contracts (and
licenses) are closely monitored.

8. People

BT prides itself on employing only the best people (human and intellectual capital) who
can deliver the required services to clients. The employees also supplement the skills,
expertise and knowledge - acquired through education, training, experience, and
cognition - needed to run the company effectively and efficiently.
BT’s organizational governance and management aim is to nurture its people. BT is
aware that its physical and mental or intellectual capital generates all its economic
wealth and value.

9. Relationship building

BT’s managers build relationships with their staff, staff build relationships with clients by
means of team building exercises, bosberade, conferences, seminars, hunting
expeditions, meetings and general day-to-day interaction. IT builds relationships with the
business and with vendors and contractors. For BT Internet technology is not about on-
line ordering or selling, but about improving relationships among suppliers, distributors,
clients, employees and employers.

10. Leadership

Relationship building is the direct result of the leadership provided by BT’s Managing
Director, Directors, General managers and Human Resources department. All these
people are selected for their ability to motivate and lead people.

The Internet provides BT’s leaders with the right information, to direct to the right person,
in the right format, at the right time. Internet technologies with its sophisticated Web
search and navigation aids, capacitates BT’s decision makers.

11. Contract facilitation

Contract facilitation in BT is the responsibility of the IT department well as management.

BT is driven by contracts and a need to keep abreast so as to remain a competitive
service provider in SA. Competitive tendering makes up a large part of obtaining big
transport contracts from Engen, Total, SASOL and Shell. This strategically important
business environment requires strong leaders who can direct resources and show the
way in, very often a politically and economically challenging terrain.

12. Informed buying

BT’s IT department forms an integral part of BT’s informed buying strategy. It is

therefore possible to make informed buying and tendering decisions based on the needs
of BT.
BT’s Website can be used as a marketing channel or to capture and analyse market
data to enable accurate pricing and the targeting of appropriate buyers or clients. By
utilising BT’s Website appropriately it is possible to be more competitive by setting lower
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prices, manufacturing better and higher quality products, delivering the orders more
accurately and quickly and by providing a higher and more consistent level of service.
It also makes it possible for IT to determine aspects such as the bandwidth required for
future developments and the types of tools required for future service delivery. Clients,
service providers and employees will be able to interact with BT on a 24/7 basis.

13. Making technology work

BT is fully aware that it takes four aspects to make technology work. The business
opportunity must exist that can be exploited with Internet technologies, the processes
must be fully thought through and in place, the architecture must be able to fulfill the
need of the business and lastly (and most importantly) its people must be trained and
encouraged to use the technology optimally for the benefit of its clients.

14. Security

One of BT’s primary concerns is security. The Internet is very public, and many people
hesitate to send sensitive data over the wires where it might be intercepted by nefarious
third parties.

Edwards (1996) states that the potential for breaches of security from hackers, snooping
employees, disgruntled ex-workers and out-and-out cyber crooks made the leap into
Internet technology risky, if not downright imprudent, for many businesses. However
recent technological advances are providing the tools to make the Internet a safer,
though not totally secure, place to work.
BT uses firewalls (the hardware-software combination that stands as a barrier between
an organisation's Internet resources and the outside world) as its first line of defense
against Internet intruders.

BT should develop a written, maintained and communicated security policy with distinct
levels of information access – as BT does not have this.

15. ROI
it is not enough to look at how companies are using technology, but rather at how they
integrate technology with general strategic management (and how operating profit can
be created through the use of a Website).

The ROI is, as Hartley, Firer and Ford (1991) say a measure of profitability, and
profitability is the ultimate test of operating efficiency. Accountants require
measurements like ROI to determine how successful an investment is.
Since Internet investments focus on building infrastructure, keeping pace with the market
and building new capabilities, BT’s senior executives expect payoffs to come in many
forms such as improved communication and enhanced customer service, improved
knowledge sharing, reduced cost and entering of new markets globally. Unfortunately,
most of these Internet benefits are not easily quantified.
Indeed BT found that the return on investment in terms of an ICT investment is very
difficult to determine. It is simple enough to determine what funds (that is to says
financial) were employed to establish the strategy and the web solution but it is rather
difficult to determine the value added by the people and by the information content of the
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Website. It is similarly difficult to determine the operating profit derived solely from the
ICT
Questions such as these may be answered, over time, with the development of
measures more appropriate to the non-monetary value adding of Websites. At this time
however BT’s accountants will require ROI answers to make investment decisions.
Horgan found that theoretically it seems from recent studies that the following ROI’s
have been obtained from using Internet technologies:
 ROI - 23% to 88%, or in other studies ROI > 1000%,
 Payback in 1 to 2 years or in other studies payback in 8 to 24 weeks. This
means the initial investment was recouped in 1 to 2 years or 8 to 24 weeks
(Horgan).
It is therefore safe to assume that applying Internet technology reduces BT’s cost of
doing business.

16. Conclusion

At BT Internet technologies are part of the way business is done since Internet
investment focuses on building infrastructure, keeping pace with the market and
building new capabilities. BT aims to use Internet Technology to create new
revenue streams, open new markets and retain current clients, vendors,
manufacturers, distributors and suppliers.
It is however critical that integration into all BT business processes is achieved in
order to find and share information and to identify and develop new business
opportunities.

It is safe to conclude that the application of Internet technologies in BT is a viable

option for appropriate business solutions.