ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenges facing the end-user computing (EUC) department and suggests a blueprint for developing its expanded role. The EUC department must adapt to the new environment and forge a new role for itself within the Information systems function and with clients. EUC should provide three primary types of information of its clients: specific work done for the individual department, general services EUC provides, and new product information. Although local area networks (LANs) are valuable for the functions, their greatest benefits are derived from the exploitation of software, not the sharing of hardware. There are three primary types of LAN software: standard microcomputer applications, groupware, and custom software. Whereas LAN technology can be seen as providing the foundation for new types of software, the graphical user interface (GUI) is the framework laid on top of that foundation. The key technology for EUC to understand and exploit is the GUI.
