discuss board

What changes in business software platforms have you experienced, and what was the driving force behind the change? What important trends in business hardware are occurring?  What relationship do you see happening between hardware changes and software?  In your experience, which seems to drive the other and why?  How important do you perceive databases and data mining to business?  How could a small business take advantage of the technology?  In your opinion, should software dictate business processes or should the business process dictate the software structure?  Why?  What are the risks?