????最終，各行各業的物理和臨時藩籬都將徹底消亡，IT技術將把供應商、承包商和客戶緊緊聯結起來。比如在醫療業，斯坦福醫院（Stanford Hospital）就用軟件讓研究人員、病人和醫生充分連接。它所采用的新興遠程醫療技術讓這所醫院得以進入了全新的市場，甚至有可能讓遠在帕洛阿爾托市千里之外的病人也能享受到它的醫療服務。而在制造業，像Jawbone、Nest和Ubiquiti這樣的公司一開始只需要幾個人就能開始運轉，只要數天就能通過外包找到全球化的供應商和生產商，只要幾個月就能和業內巨頭分庭抗禮。企業與客戶之間的這種無縫連接早在互聯網興起時就已經初露端倪，但直到現在才獲得了充分認識，而眼下正是它開始打造一個更加平坦的世界，同時加速經濟的發展。那些能充分利用好這些現代技術的企業由此所獲得的靈活性能讓它們對市場信息和產品趨勢做出更好的反應，也讓它們最終變得更有競爭力。

????在所有這些案例中，我們的工作方式，銷售的產品，以及各行各業的運作方式都將被信息所塑造。所有那些能被信息改善的職能、功能或部門都將迅速發生轉變。這樣一來，信息以及能促成信息應用的技術正變成富有競爭力的武器，同時也會成為向客戶交付前所未有的價值的基礎。

????不管你是“財富美國500強”公司的首席執行官還是只有十個人的創業公司，現在都離不開信息行業。你打算如何投展開爭呢？（財富中文網）

????亞倫?利維是Box公司的首席執行官。

????譯者：樸成奎

????

????Finally, physical and temporal barriers are being demolished in every industry, with IT becoming the glue that connects vendors, contractors and clients together. In healthcare, Stanford Hospital connects researchers, patients and doctors using software. Its emerging telemedicine initiative moves the hospital into entirely new markets, with the potential of delivering care to patients far beyond the perimeter of its Palo Alto hub. In manufacturing, startups like Jawbone, Nest, and Ubiquiti can get off the ground with a handful of people, sourcing global suppliers and manufacturers in days, becoming competitive with large incumbents within months. Glimmers of this seamless linkage between businesses and their customers were exposed at the start of the web, but are now being fully realized, architecting a far flatter world and more rapid economic progress. For those that leverage these modern capabilities, the agility gained allows for better responsiveness to information on market and product trends, making them even more competitive over time.

????In all of these cases, the way we work, the products we sell, and how industries operate are shaped by information. Any role, function or department that can be improved by information will change, and rapidly. Consequently, information and the technology enabling its use are becoming competitive weapons, and the basis of delivering previously inconceivable value to customers.

????Whether you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or a ten-person startup, you're now in the information business. How will you compete?

????Aaron Levie is chief executive officer of Box.