Moving towards enterprise solutions Computimes, Thursday, June 24, 2004 NATIONAL economies are increasingly integrated into the global economy where all the elements needed to produce final goods or services may be sourced from around the world. Today, even small trading companies have many foreign customers and suppliers. Globalisation is so prevalent that we no longer think of the world as consisting of numerous distinct national markets, but instead the North American trading bloc, the European Common Market, the Asean Free Trade Area, and others that will continue to appear. Globalisation has been driven in part by new technologies and in part by reduced barriers to international trade and investment flows. Another factor driving the growth of international trade is the concentration of buying power into the hands of a small number of global retailers like WalMart, Carrefour and Makro. These global retailers bring to the bargaining table enormous purchasing power, an almost realtime understanding of consumer behaviour, and a relentless focus on giving their customers the best bargains. The crushing weight of these 900-pound gorillas has forced many trading companies to scour the world for sources of supply that are cheaper, better, and faster, thus catalysing international trade. The following trends in information and communications technology (ICT) adoption among leading small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in international trade could be observed as a result of the two factors mentioned above: The move towards enterprise solutions that promote integration across business units. Particularly important will be the integration of logistical processes to the accounting and financial processes in order to facilitate operational risk management. The adoption of common Internet messaging standards such as RoseetaNet that facilitate exchange of trade information in a common, normalised format. The emergence of Web marketplaces, exchanges and third-party services that provide both importers and exporters an economical solution to product content management and market discovery Potential trading partners in different geographies and time zones can quickly determine the desirability of trade with the other parties using the Internet, realising savings in time, money and effort. Third-party trade exchanges allow service providers to leverage economies of scale while SMEs can avoid the expense of doing all the IT infrastructure development in-house. The edited article was contributed by KarenSoft Technology Bhd's executive chairman/chief executive officer Chee Chong Hwa.