This weekend the Wimbledon 1999 finalists take to the centre court to do battle for one of the most prestigious sporting titles in the world.

Behind the scenes it will mark the culmination of a long struggle to deliver comprehensive realtime information from matches to hundreds of millions of fans around the world.

Although Wimbledon represents one of the oldest and most straightforward sporting events in the world, today there is very little in its running that is not touched by technology. With 160 computers installed, and 20 miles of cabling laid for the duration, IBM systems transmit continuous information to broadcasters, data teams and the official Wimbledon website (www.wimbledon.org).

A complete website overhaul for this year's tournament was prompted by last year's interest in the site. At its peak it was receiving 145,000 page "hits" per minute, and a total of 233 million hits over the event.

This year, on the first day of the tournament the site was logging in excess of 100,000 hits per minute, with traffic expected to escalate significantly for the final rounds. As a result, IBM has put in place a comprehensive infrastructure to handle this year's traffic.

Around 70 servers are operational on a "web farm" in the US, spread across three locations, which handles all of the scoring information collected by data entry clerks on the courts. This information is then used to drive television graphics, and form the content of the website.

This year the "Wimbledon Channel" was introduced to the site. Its enhanced Java scoreboard sits unobtrusively on the desktop delivering live scores from all the courts in real time. An editorial team has been put in place by the All England Lawn Tennis Association to input content, interviews and photographs from the action to the website.

To compensate for still unresolved shortcomings in Internet video streaming, a new NetCam has been developed which captures still images from live broadcast cameras. At any one time, site users can view nine still frames of the matches, which are regularly refreshed. Although the benefits of such an offering are not immediately apparent to fair-weather tennis observers, IBM insists the feature is extremely popular with fanatics.

One of the really fun features of the site is the introduction of interactive cameras. Three cameras overlook the centre court, an older court, and the grounds at Wimbledon, allowing users on their home PCs to instruct the camera to pan, zoom and take a snap shot of whatever view they choose.

Another big attraction has been the introduction to centre and number one courts of a new radar display measuring speeds of service. Although this technology has been in place for commentators, competitors and Wimbledon staff since 1991, this is the first time it has been installed courtside. Within one second the speed of the player's serve appears on the digital display, and it adds greatly to the spectator experience to witness the speed of service rates.

Facts and statistics like this have been fed to privileged members of the Wimbledon inner circle for many years, and it is still the case that commentators receive exclusive statistics.

According to one Wimbledon site producer there is nothing to stop all of the information being made available over the website, but age-old obstacles arise: "There remains an attitude that information is power, and if you give it away to everyone, in some way the broadcaster's power is diminished."

Because of the limited opportunity for corporate sponsorship at Wimbledon - the All England Club prefers to call them "official suppliers" - IBM is keen to continue its relationship with the event. This year its four-year contract with the club ends, and according to Mr John Taylor, IBM's project manager for the tournament, it is "on the cusp" of signing another four-year agreement.

At this stage one of the primary advantages of IBM's role in Wimbledon, is how it serves as a user-friendly example of electronic business in action. We all know the world is abuzz with how the Net can change your business, but it remains a reality that the real benefit is difficult to convey.

According to Mr Taylor, IBM's Wimbledon project is a prime example of data management. "The tournament fits in perfectly with our strategic policy, and provides a good match to the audience we're aimed at. Through the Internet we can target the decision makers of the future, and reach the classic corporate profile everyone is aiming at."

The positive response of fans to enhanced tournament coverage can be easily mapped to the business environment and customer relationship management. The All England Club has already reaped the benefits of its online commitment, with sales through the merchandising end of the website going through the roof.

Neither the club nor IBM were willing to quantify this benefit, but there are obvious returns to be made from selling towels, T-shirts, and posters to a global market.

Another innovative development at Wimbledon has worked extremely well as a public relations exercise. As people come and go all day from the courts, seats are left vacant and never reused. IBM and Symbol Technologies have developed a system where people exiting the ground have the barcode information on their tickets scanned, and radio signalled to a rooftop antenna. The information is then relayed to a central computer which matches tickets into pairs, forwards the details to the ticket resale booth where they are printed out for the next batch of hopeful fans.

The All England Club is committing all of this money to charity, and last year the system managed to raise £45,995.

No amount of e-commerce conferences and seminars at £1,000 a pop can demonstrate more practically the myriad benefits of data management. The technology is there for everyone, it is smart ideas and their application that make the competitive difference.