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What is E-Business?

© James Lewin

What is e-business?

This is a question that many people ask. Many other people have misconceptions about what e-business is.

E-business is not putting your catalog on the web, or even doing business online. Putting your catalog online is just using the web as another form of advertising. Doing business online is e-commerce, but isn't necessarily e-business.

E-business is integrating Internet technology into your business. It is using Internet technology to do things that were not previously possible.

E-businesses...

• Use the Internet throughout their business process, including purchasing, marketing and fulfillment
• Utilize email as a primary method of communicating with their clients and suppliers.
• Access all of their business information through the Internet or through intranets.
• Use the Internet to automate work that was previously done manually, such as collecting information and entering it into databases, or answering customer requests.
• Actively work to give customers and suppliers access to information within their systems, and also the ability to influence the workings of their company and systems. Examples of this are many. For example, a company like Ebay allows anyone to sell anything for any price on their site. Ebay doesn't control the suppliers or consumers, but instead creates a place where buyers and sellers can work together effectively.
• Take advantage of the unique qualities of the Internet for communication and interaction.
• Automate anything and everything that can be automated, and focus their remaining resources on doing well those things that should not be automated..

This list is by no means comprehensive. Most businesses can't do all of these things yet. As a result, most businesses are not yet e-businesses. It is clear that successful businesses in the future will be e-businesses.

Finally, e-business isn't really something a company does. It is something a company becomes.

Some of the most insightful commentary about what an e-business is can be found at the Cluetrain site. The authors of the Cluetrain "manifesto" take a half-militant/half tongue-in-cheek view of what companies must do in order to succeed as e-businesses.

The Clutetrain site states that "markets are getting smarter-and getting smarter faster than most companies". E-businesses use technology to keep up and lead their markets.

The copyright of the article What is E-Business? in E-Business Basics is owned by James Lewin. Permission to republish What is E-Business? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.