Today's enterprise vendor is difficult to define, since it may be large and global, and may sell big ticket solutions, but it behaves very differently from the computer industry monoliths we knew in the 1970's and 1980's. These are companies who are embracing and advancing the new technologies, exploring open source, developing SOA, facilitating Web services, evolving storage virtualisation and making the systems that keep modern business moving forward almost effortlessly pervasive.
More than this, they have embraced a wealth of related offerings in adjacent technologies: think of HP's reputation for telecommunications network management platforms, or now for its digital photography innovation; think of IBM's assumption of leadership in consultancy - not only for its systems installations and integrations but in all kinds of business areas not directly related to technology.
So, what then is an enterprise IT company?
It may be hard to define, but what they all have in common is the need to build value for their evolving and expanding propositions, and to underpin that process with skills rooted in consistent, robust and measurable behaviours.
