Pro-apps get consumer touch

WITH large companies giving their IT systems a facelift, the stereotype of the ugly enterprise application may eventually cease to exist, according to IT consultant Avanade.

Mick Slattery, Avanade's executive vice- president of global service lines, told reporters at a roundtable discussion that large enterprises are "struggling" with their user interfaces.

They are realising that the user experience is such a strong factor in employee productivity that they are channelling dollars from the IT budget into rebuilding their software systems' front ends, hoping to coax better work out of employees.