Index of Business-to-Business Economy Articles

Articles about the B2B economy.

The Food and Drug Administration is now enforcing regulations designed to ensure that electronic documents coming from the industries that it regulates are correct and authentic. The focus is on using electronic signature technologies and good management practices to retain individual accountability throughout the entire lifespan of long-lived, complex documents. There is much that other companies involved in the creation of complicated, collaboratively authored design documents or long-lived records of manufacturing practices can learn from the FDA initiative.

Electronic Procurement in the Marine Marketplace

In the summer and fall of 2001 Fastwater conducted a survey of current and future use of electronic procurement in the marine marketplace. This study, commissioned by MarineProvider, is an important addition to Fastwater's continuing research and analysis in the area of B2B commerce. It will be of interest to anyone who is following the expansion of electronic procurement from early adopters to mainstream markets.

The B2B Horserace: Understanding Buyer Motivations in eMarkets

PDF file for printing

A significant part of the difficulty with the B2B eMarket business concept is that the buyer is not really a single entity, but reflects a variety of concerns that are properly the focus of different groups within the buying organization. Worse, the different buyer motivations often conflict with each other and can even reflect different stages of market maturity -- all within a single company.

A successful approach to buyers in an emerging eMarket depends on separating out and understanding the different buyer motives. Once you can identify the different concerns and requirements, you can focus on the ones that fit your company's offer. You also need to develop strategies for staying out of trouble with the parts of the buying organization that have other needs.

Farewell to Net95?

The Internet is changing. The Internet that we used to know, dubbed "Net95" by Lawrence Lessig, was a place where information flowed freely around attempts to control and contain it. Net95 gained fame as a place where even repressive regimes where unable to stop the free exchange of information.

Net95 is disappearing. The cause is not the force repressive governments, but the allure and demands of e-Business. E-Business requires layers of control to protect information and authenticate use, and these layers fundamentally change the nature of the Net. Backed up by the force of law in some cases and by economic incentives in others, these changes have the potential to change the Net, as Lessig says, from "a world of relative freedom to a world of relatively perfect control."

eMarkets: Fixing What Is Broken

PDF file for printing

The serious problems that numerous eMarkets are having in getting traction - the buzz term is "reaching liquidity" - has been a real source of concern for eMarkets and companies that supply technology to eMarkets. We have looked at the business models for a number of these markets - in some cases we have helped build them - and we can see that the fundamental requirements for success are there. What is going wrong? This paper suggests that the answer to this question has to do with misplaced focus. The problem with finding the right focus is perfectly understandable, perhaps even inevitable, but it is also something that the eMarkets can address if they can see the bigger picture.

Electronic Signatures

An excerpt of this article was published in the August 25, 2000, edition of the BCB Report.

On the last day of June, 2000, President Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. This is important legislation that removes legislative barreirs to letting the market do its work in sorting out what kinds of electronic signature technologies and applications make sense. This article provdies a summary of the legislation, an overview of the business issues surrounding use of electronic signatures, and suggestions about how to evaluate the use of electronic signatures for your business. The article will help web business managers balance the costs, potential liabilities, and opportunites associated with electronic signatures.

Disruptive Innovation and Your Web Business

The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen is one of the best business books we've read. It provides a framework for understanding the impact of disruptive web innovations on your business. This issue of Rapids summarizes Christensen's findings and helps you understand what they mean: Should a new Internet initiative be an extension of your current business? Or should it be managed as something different and separate? What is the best way to handle the relationship between the Internet business and the existing products and existing channels? Answering these questions wrong can result in an ineffective Internet business or can result in real damage to the primary business. Or both.

Automated Product Information Exchange in the Industrial Supply Market

The Web brings electronic commerce to many more buyers and suppliers, more parts of the distribution chain, and more product categories. In this process, businesses will develop new relationships and will need to find new ways to support existing distribution relationships. The lifeblood of these relationships is information exchange, and in particular exchange of product information. This white paper explores the primary requirements for automated product information exchange in the industrial supply market.

The Hot Idea: Rich Business Communications on Loosely Coupled Networks

We're seeing large, fundamental changes in the way that businesses use the Web. Web based systems have, over the last year, developed new ways of supporting rich, complex business interactions over the loosely coupled Web network. Think of it as enabling technology that is making new kinds of Web businesses possible. This article discusses these changes.

B2B Integration Protocols and Standards

The b2b Internet commerce market is certainly heating up. One sign of this is the proliferation of standards, frameworks and partnership announcements. Keeping all the protocols straight and understanding what each of them covers is not easy. We provide you some help this week by giving you a framework to understand the layers of Internet commerce relationships. We also discuss the latest protocols, including BizTalk, cXML, CBL, OBI, and more.

Industry Perspectives: A State-of-the-Market Report on Web Business

April was a busy month for Fastwater, including delivering two Fastwater seminars on Web business measurement, moderating the Electronic Commerce Symposium at spring Internet World, speaking at the net.Genesis customer conference and to the New York chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals, and finishing with the Internet Electronic Commerce expo. These events put us in touch with companies who are in various stages of establishing and growing Web businesses. Hearing about their trials and tribulations gave us an opportunity to assess the state of the network economy. What's working? Where are the successes? What are the next big challenges? What issues are top-of-mind for Web business managers?

Accountability and Trust in Documents	The Food and Drug Administration is now enforcing regulations designed to ensure that electronic documents coming from the industries that it regulates are correct and authentic. The focus is on using electronic signature technologies and good management practices to retain individual accountability throughout the entire lifespan of long-lived, complex documents. There is much that other companies involved in the creation of complicated, collaboratively authored design documents or long-lived records of manufacturing practices can learn from the FDA initiative.
Electronic Procurement in the Marine Marketplace	In the summer and fall of 2001 Fastwater conducted a survey of current and future use of electronic procurement in the marine marketplace. This study, commissioned by MarineProvider, is an important addition to Fastwater's continuing research and analysis in the area of B2B commerce. It will be of interest to anyone who is following the expansion of electronic procurement from early adopters to mainstream markets.
The B2B Horserace: Understanding Buyer Motivations in eMarkets PDF file for printing	A significant part of the difficulty with the B2B eMarket business concept is that the buyer is not really a single entity, but reflects a variety of concerns that are properly the focus of different groups within the buying organization. Worse, the different buyer motivations often conflict with each other and can even reflect different stages of market maturity -- all within a single company. A successful approach to buyers in an emerging eMarket depends on separating out and understanding the different buyer motives. Once you can identify the different concerns and requirements, you can focus on the ones that fit your company's offer. You also need to develop strategies for staying out of trouble with the parts of the buying organization that have other needs.
Farewell to Net95?	The Internet is changing. The Internet that we used to know, dubbed "Net95" by Lawrence Lessig, was a place where information flowed freely around attempts to control and contain it. Net95 gained fame as a place where even repressive regimes where unable to stop the free exchange of information. Net95 is disappearing. The cause is not the force repressive governments, but the allure and demands of e-Business. E-Business requires layers of control to protect information and authenticate use, and these layers fundamentally change the nature of the Net. Backed up by the force of law in some cases and by economic incentives in others, these changes have the potential to change the Net, as Lessig says, from "a world of relative freedom to a world of relatively perfect control."
eMarkets: Fixing What Is Broken PDF file for printing	The serious problems that numerous eMarkets are having in getting traction - the buzz term is "reaching liquidity" - has been a real source of concern for eMarkets and companies that supply technology to eMarkets. We have looked at the business models for a number of these markets - in some cases we have helped build them - and we can see that the fundamental requirements for success are there. What is going wrong? This paper suggests that the answer to this question has to do with misplaced focus. The problem with finding the right focus is perfectly understandable, perhaps even inevitable, but it is also something that the eMarkets can address if they can see the bigger picture.
Electronic Signatures An excerpt of this article was published in the August 25, 2000, edition of the BCB Report.	On the last day of June, 2000, President Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. This is important legislation that removes legislative barreirs to letting the market do its work in sorting out what kinds of electronic signature technologies and applications make sense. This article provdies a summary of the legislation, an overview of the business issues surrounding use of electronic signatures, and suggestions about how to evaluate the use of electronic signatures for your business. The article will help web business managers balance the costs, potential liabilities, and opportunites associated with electronic signatures.
Disruptive Innovation and Your Web Business	The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen is one of the best business books we've read. It provides a framework for understanding the impact of disruptive web innovations on your business. This issue of Rapids summarizes Christensen's findings and helps you understand what they mean: Should a new Internet initiative be an extension of your current business? Or should it be managed as something different and separate? What is the best way to handle the relationship between the Internet business and the existing products and existing channels? Answering these questions wrong can result in an ineffective Internet business or can result in real damage to the primary business. Or both.
Automated Product Information Exchange in the Industrial Supply Market	The Web brings electronic commerce to many more buyers and suppliers, more parts of the distribution chain, and more product categories. In this process, businesses will develop new relationships and will need to find new ways to support existing distribution relationships. The lifeblood of these relationships is information exchange, and in particular exchange of product information. This white paper explores the primary requirements for automated product information exchange in the industrial supply market.
The Hot Idea: Rich Business Communications on Loosely Coupled Networks	We're seeing large, fundamental changes in the way that businesses use the Web. Web based systems have, over the last year, developed new ways of supporting rich, complex business interactions over the loosely coupled Web network. Think of it as enabling technology that is making new kinds of Web businesses possible. This article discusses these changes.
B2B Integration Protocols and Standards	The b2b Internet commerce market is certainly heating up. One sign of this is the proliferation of standards, frameworks and partnership announcements. Keeping all the protocols straight and understanding what each of them covers is not easy. We provide you some help this week by giving you a framework to understand the layers of Internet commerce relationships. We also discuss the latest protocols, including BizTalk, cXML, CBL, OBI, and more.
Industry Perspectives: A State-of-the-Market Report on Web Business	April was a busy month for Fastwater, including delivering two Fastwater seminars on Web business measurement, moderating the Electronic Commerce Symposium at spring Internet World, speaking at the net.Genesis customer conference and to the New York chapter of the Association of Internet Professionals, and finishing with the Internet Electronic Commerce expo. These events put us in touch with companies who are in various stages of establishing and growing Web businesses. Hearing about their trials and tribulations gave us an opportunity to assess the state of the network economy. What's working? Where are the successes? What are the next big challenges? What issues are top-of-mind for Web business managers?