The view from the tower

Abstract

Argues that it is not disruptive technology but the available business models and the ability to entrepreneurially transform them that causes disruption. Reviews the ways in which disruption has affected the business-to-business information market, and considers developments that might cause future disruption, including workflow integration, vertical search and the development of community. Suggests that the science, technology and medical communities, and the legal, tax and regulatory information markets, have been the heralds of change, both because of their commoditization of primary information and their need to move beyond research to ancillary services to reduce their exposure to business risk. Explains why some traditional business models are failing in the process, principally because of the development of information communities. Finally, briefly considers the competitive environment, speculating on who may be the major players in the future.