During the 1980s, the cost of computer hardware decreased while the power of computer hardware increased, and software applications became more powerful and offered greater opportunity to companies such as Microsoft which found themselves in growing markets. Microsoft (and others) recognized the importance of building brand loyalty by standardizing procedures across various programs and enhancing data sharing among programs. Word processing programs, spreadsheets and database management programs began using electronic data interchange (EDI) to share information so that users did not have to re-create the information for each application. At the same time, functions such as cut-and-paste and file insertion made it easier to maximize the power of specialized applications and import information into the most appropriate type of application. In this way, users could input data into an Access database, chart it using an Excel spreadsheet, copy the chart into a Power Point presentation, and e-mail the entire presentation using Microsoft Word to create the transmission memo (DeVoney, 1997, p. 83).
Several so-called office suites are now available, including SmartSuite by Lotus and Office by Microsoft. These suites combine word processing and spreadsheets with a variety of other components which may vary depending on the combination selected by the user. Thus a user of Microsoft Office might choose the package which includes Word and Excel (word processing and spreadsheet programs which are found in all Office options) along with Power Point (presentation software) and Access (a database management program). Or, a user might choose Microsoft Publisher instead of Access if there is greater need for a desktop publishing program instead of a database manager. Regardless of which vendor or component combination is selected, users can share information across the various applications within the suite, and can quickly switch from one sui...