The Web isn't just fun and games for cyber geeks anymore, it's turning into a business pipeline, and is threatening to become a push media system too, delivering content.

So if all this seems like it should be in an Internet/Intranet or computer magazine, rather than a systems contracting magazine, then this is the most compelling reason to pay attention to the internet and the direction of convergence the systems contracting industry.

The past year has seen a steady growth in public Internet access of about 10% per month in North America where the basic phone service is cheap, and between 5-8% per month in other technological parts of the word where the phone system costs more to use. Intranet growth is supposedly one of the largest computer software and technology markets going currently (growing by 49% annually). The Web isn't just fun and games for cyber geeks anymore, it's turning into a business pipeline, and is threatening to become a push media system too, delivering content. What does all of this growth mean for the systems contracting industry, if anything at all? What is the potential for the use of internet and intranet technology in the systems contracting field? Is the web and the internet strictly a contracting business administration, marketing and customer support factor, or is it likely that the systems contracting industry will touch the Web and internet technology directly? (and vice versa).

Interesting questions in this year where browser software is "maturing" or at least the runaway version count is slowing down now that the focus of both Netscape and Microsoft has shifted to Intranet use, and to integrated computer workplace solutions (for Win 95 and NT users anyway). On the hardware side of the fence, the network hardware market has seen the runaway on-line sales success of Cisco, selling to net users through the net. The server market has also seen runaway sales increases, as people buy systems to support Microsoft NT4.0 and the server software packages to handle the ever-increasing demand for website access.

So if all this seems like it should be in an Internet/Intranet or computer magazine, rather than a systems contracting magazine, then this is the most compelling reason to pay attention to the internet and the direction of convergence the systems contracting industry. The World Wide Web and the internet are going to be important in four major areas of the systems contracting industry: business and administration, sales and marketing, technical and product information delivery, and as a systems backbone (or replacement in some cases). There is still a remarkable amount of confusion about what the capabilities and applications are for this networked world, and about the direction that it may take the contracting markets.

Administration

This is an obvious example of the impact of the internet/intranet market on the systems contractor. Internal computer networks and access to the world wide web and the internet have enabled a fast and easy way to move e-mail and information around an office, between multiple office locations or branches, between the consultant and contractor, between the contractor and client, and between the contractor and the manufacturer. It also has enabled low cost video conference communication between multiple sites, and even shared computer applications which can help with spreadsheets during system costing, or management and staff meetings between several branches. With more drawings being produced in AutoCAD, and other computer design programs, it becomes easier to move the project files between locations, or between a central engineering office and a field sales person, or consultant. Shop drawings can be produced in DXF format and e-mailed to the consultant, reducing the costs associated with printing multiple issues of drawings while fine tuning design details. In systems using DSP based systems, such as Peavey's Media-Matrix or TOA's Dacsys, it is possible to have the consultant or contractor e-mail the compiled system layout file to the site and have the system configured to pass audio in minutes.

Sales and Marketing

The World Wide Web has become the new Yellow Pages, but with more depth available than any phone book could have offered. For contractors serving either local or large areas, the advertising cost is unchanged. A website is accessible to the world, as well as the guy down the block. It may have cost a contractor a few hundred dollars per month for each Yellow Pages directory in each city or town of market interest, and that may have made it too expensive to expand the markets into other nearby cities or towns. A single website has more coverage area (global), more depth of information for potential clients, the ability to deliver qualified client inquiries (although it delivers just as many tire kickers as the Yellow Pages), and at the rate that internet access is increasing it may soon be as available as the Yellow Pages as more libraries and workplaces are wired, and WebTV enters more homes. While a webpage may cost a few thousand dollars to develop, it is comparable to the cost of advertising materials such as brochures and direct mail materials. The use of context based search engines on the World Wide Web have made the WWW the place to go for finding unusual or specialized information, ideal for pre-qualifying inquiries by potential clients. If the contractor's website has enough information organized in a usable fashion, the client can be given the basic information they need without additional sales personnel time required to make initial contacts. Institutional, corporate and government clients almost certainly have some internet access these days, and by effectively using server stats, the contractor's webmaster can keep track of the IP addresses that web inquiries are coming from. This enables the contractor to continually fine tune the website to deliver more depth of information in areas of interest, which is like being able to re-invent your brochure with microscopic print runs.

Quite a few manufacturers' websites have already fallen into a state of suspended animation, or perpetual construction, but many of these manufacturers have not actually figured out any of the electronic based media like CD-ROM's either.

While the internet and the WWW are seen as the new universal and ubiquitous network, there are still some things the internet is not well suited to.

Technical and Product Information Delivery

The manufacturers of products are putting there entire product catalog and specifications on their websites, which can be a life saver when you're working on quotes on a weekend or evening, and you don't know your rep's home phone number. Even more useful are application notes, service notices, detailed information on loudspeaker performance or coverage, and even software for design or application. Many manufacturers have embraced the web for its immediacy of delivery, and keep it updated with the very latest information. Quite a few manufacturers' websites have already fallen into a state of suspended animation, or perpetual construction, but many of these manufacturers have not actually figured out any of the electronic based media like CD-ROM's either. With the ability to change webpages quickly, the website should have the latest information within days of the press releases, and well before the new literature is back from the printer.

The best application of the WWW for the systems contractor is the ability to research products that they are either competing against, or are in need of to complete a bid. The contractor can quickly check for a wide range of suitable products using context based search engines like www.hotbot.com.

System Backbone / Media Delivery System

Now this is where it gets to be fun, the internet/intranet as a backbone and infrastructure for systems. Where the WWW was strictly a "Pull" media, offering information to users who would send requests for it, it is soon to be adding "Push" to it's repertoire through something called netcasting, which would deliver continuous updates to a web-browser. Other media type web based applications include multi-point video conferencing. A lot of corporate applications for boardrooms, meeting rooms, training rooms and executive facilities are now making use of intranet based media systems, and this will have an impact on corporate systems market. Rather than use a large screen video system in a dedicated room, meetings and ongoing training are happening on individual desktop computers, using existing network resources. Instead of investing in audio/video and control systems for dedicated rooms, the budget is moving to cover a substantial network server and perhaps dedicated audio or video file servers that are able to be combined with Sun's Java or Microsoft's ActiveX programs to allow the playback of digital multimedia resources from the desktop computer. For the corporate, government and the educational markets, all those skills in control system programming will need to be supplemented by Java and ActiveX programming.

While the internet and the WWW are seen as the new universal and ubiquitous network, there are still some things the internet is not well suited to. Where high volumes of data transfers are required, or where security of access is an issue, dedicated wide area or local networks, or dial up connections from modem to modem are still the best way to handle the data traffic. While some of the new digital backbones (Cobranet, RAVE,) use standard TCP/IP protocols as the communication standard, this is primarily to eliminate proprietary hardware which increases the cost of the systems. It is not practical to try to use the internet or an intranet to transport high density media through a wide area network, a dedicated media network is still the optimum approach. Users sending data files to other locations do not have a truly secure (from piracy or tampering), or even private connection unless there is some type of encryption program involved. Security systems will have a very different focus in businesses without offices.

Some public facilities, or public broadcasters are finding some value in having real time streaming audio or video available on the internet (CBC Radio in Canada has real time RealAudio streaming of its AM and FM network programming on line all the time). Some interactive capability may soon be possible that would involve modifying the media content, but it would be inadvisable for any Manager of Information Systems to allow external access to any critical control functions or source data inside a firewall from the internet. This is where applets written in Java and ActiveX will be useful. The media can be sent to the receiving station, buffered, and then manipulated using the applet that is also downloaded to the receiving station. Some manufacturers of digital based recording/effects software have ActiveX plug-ins now. The convenient thing about this network media approach is that it allows the full versatility of a piece of valuable software to be utilized by the end user, without the software supplier losing ownership of the software. This will be well suited to the upcoming micro-marketing approach of on-line pay per use.

If you notice a distinct lack of discussion of the systems hardware that may be required in an internet/intranet based systems contracting market, you'd be getting the right message. While the audio industry is still struggling with defining an effective model for configuring DSP based audio gear, the computer market has always understood that the computer is a universal box that can have nearly any algorithm overlaid on it if the input/output hardware (A/D - D/A) can support it. A desktop computer can handle an awful lot of applications that take a substantial amount of dedicated hardware when expanded to a room size scale. A PC or Mac can provide a full featured boardroom A/V presentation system on a desktop, including audio, video, video conferencing and control systems, plus hundreds of other more flexible features. At the desktop computer scale, the extra cost of this multimedia capability is negligible, it does not even double the cost of a computer. If you scale the the major computer elements required for use by more than one person, you only need a bigger display (like a 42" colour plasma display) and a mobile interface like a wireless mouse or tablet to bring all that computer flexibility out to a group of people.

So is the internet the technical demon or saviour it has been touted as... probably neither. Is the internet going to be a growing part of the world that systems contractors will interface with... most definitely. Will the internet affect the way we implement technology and distribute information, and ultimately change the way that systems are designed and installed... guaranteed.