Mining and E-Business: Consider the challenges of a typical business environment in Year 2000

Cost Pressures: the accelerating need for efficient use of existing assets, individual owners or shareholders are demanding increased profit and revenue growth, and margins are being relentlessly squeezed.

Aggressive Competition: new players are entering the arena, mergers and acquisitions are presenting new and bigger challengers, marketplaces are consolidating in all industries, and the battle for market share is intensifying.

Short-term Planning Horizon: patience is a lost virtue as investors look for rapid ROI, process implementation is measured in weeks (not months or years), investment dollars are scarce, and service level expectations have increased.

Global Environment: New developments in “far away” markets in trade, regulation and political environments are presenting constant challenges.

Sound familiar? These concerns are pretty much standard for any global company. How are executives dealing with them? By leveraging the powers of e-business to:

reduce costs,

compete more effectively,

deploy solutions more rapidly,

decrease time to market, and

meet global challenges.