The Internet is upending the model for how businesses operate, and companies that don't take advantage of the change will have a difficult time staying afloat, says Michael Dell, chairman, CEO and founder of Dell Computer Corp. With the advent of the Internet, process innovation will no longer be measured in minor increments, he told the World Congress on Information Technology in Fairfax, Va. Instead it will be possible to revolutionize processes in a way that blurs traditional boundaries between supplier and manufacturer, manufacturer and customer. This is already shrinking time and distance to a degree not possible ever before. The Internet, he adds, is turbocharging Dell's already turbocharged business. Dell Computer is a case study of the power of this emerging business model. Sales are soaring, due to Dell's build-to-order manufacturing system which is dependent on the integration of information technologies throughout all aspects of the company's operations. Dell describes his company as being virtually integrated, as opposed to vertically integrated. In the case of computing technology, vertical integration was necessary in the early years, he explains. The supplier base was not well established, leaving companies no choice but to design and manufacture product components themselves. In this environment, proprietary technologies, priced at a premium, provided the main source of competitive advantage.