From tier to peer: organizational adaptation to new computing architectures

We are in the midst of a major shift in the way computers are designed and used. The architectures, both of computer systems and of the organizations which use them, are changing from hierarchies (‘tiers’) to networks (‘peers’). This gives us, as individuals and as a profession, a challenging opportunity to enlarge our ‘systems approach’ in order to help solve the difficulties which will inevitably arise from such a major shift.