EBusiness Fundamentals

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E-Business Fundamentals

• Professor L. Kerschberg
• George Mason University
• INFS 770

2
Outline

• E-Business definition
• From the physical to the virtual
• Interfacing the physical and virtual
• Knowledge management and e-business
• Types of E-business
• Best-of-breed companies
• Customers Requirements for E-Business

3
E-Business

• Quote for Lou Gerstner, IBMs CEO
• E-Business is all about cycle time, speed,
  globalization, enhanced productivity, reaching
  new customers, and sharing knowledge across
  institutions for competitive advantage.

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From Physical to Virtual

• Trend from atoms to bits.
• Trend is toward strategic relationships.
• Create an e-space in which to conduct
  e-business.
  
• Finding the information
• Selecting the product
• Negotiating the purchase
• Effecting the transaction
• Following up on the transaction, including
  tracking, returns, etc.
  
• E-Business versus E-commerce!?

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Physical to Virtual Interfacing

• Old-economy companies are extending their reach
  by offering on-line services (catalogs,
  commodities, and e-services),
  
• Office Depot (Office supplies 2 web retailer,
  after Amazon)
  
• LL Bean (Catalog sales Dogs are in at LL Bean)
• Barnes and Noble (Booksellers)
• Charles Schwab (on-line brokerage)
• Boeing Parts Network (24/7 parts for airlines)
• Outreach to customers.
• Commodities sell well in e-space.

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Virtual Players

• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
• Ebay (www.ebay.com) - (facilitator) electronic
  auctions with consumers handling transaction and
  shipping.
  
• Napster (www.napster.com) - (facilitator)
  peer-to-peer music exchange courts not happy.
  
• Groove Networks (www.groove.com) (facilitator)
  secure peer-to-peer collaboration services.
  Founded by Ray Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes.

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Virtual Players

• Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
• Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) - (aggregator) leading
  portal and most visited e-space!
  
• E-Trade (www.etrade.com) On-line investing and
  banking moving to click-and-mortar outposts.
  
• McAfee (www.mcafee.com) Software subscription
  services for virus scanning.
  
• Software purchase, delivery and update, example
  is Copernic (www.copernic.com)
  
• Digital Content Services example is Sony Music
  (www.sony.com)
  

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Knowledge and E-business

• Customer behavior and preferences - data mining,
  customization.
  
• Domain knowledge to sell knowledge-rich
  value-added services, e.g. Buckman Laboratories.
  
• Process knowledge - improvement and evolution
  best practices, business rules, BPR via
  digitization.
  
• Knowledge Sharing via intranets, extranets and
  e-marketplaces - shorter development times,
  smaller inventories, rapid delivery.
  

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Eight Categories of E-Business

• E-Communities
• E-Service
• E-Process
• E-Infrastructure
• E-Procurement
• E-Content
• E-Analysis
• E-Markets

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E-Communities

• Connects personnel, customers and partners.
• Discussion threads allow for knowledge sharing.
• Provides a resource for e-businesses to leverage
  on-line discussions and interaction to maximize
  innovation and responsiveness.
  
• Company intranets and extranets.

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E-Service

• An e-business must manage interactions with
  employees, customers, and partners.
  
• E-service involves Customer Relationship
  Management (CRM).
  
• E-business can run in 24/7 mode providing
  up-to-the-minute information and service.
  
• Performance and scalability issues are important
  for service delivery.

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E-Process

• Digitization entails new and improved business
  processes, not just a web home page.
  
• Enterprise workflow and information flows must
  conform to the new business processes.
  
• Tools are needed for specifying, building,
  configuring, managing, tracking of complex
  transactions within the corporation and across
  the B2B e-space.
• Business rules and workflow specification
  languages play a role in e-business.

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E-Infrastructure

• E-business infrastructure is important to the
  smooth functioning of a site.
  
• Architectures are needed for e-business sites.
• Need tools to build and manage e-business sites.
• Scalability, reliability and responsiveness are
  of utmost importance.
  
• Network, software, security, hardware and
  personnel are important factors.

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E-Procurement

• B2B is more than simply Internet-based EDI.
• Companies can realize cost-savings by partnering
  in via purchasing exchanges.
  
• Companies such as CommerceOne and Ariba excel in
  creating these exchanges.
  
• B2B allows companies to integrate their
  information systems and business processes.
  
• webMethods, Oracle and i2 compete and cooperate
  in this arena.

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E-Content

• E-business relies on content management to tailor
  the information visitors are presented.
  
• Dynamic personalization makes the user experience
  more timely and productive.
  
• Portals, both intranet and extranet, can save
  money and improve relationships.
  
• IBM, Schwab and Ford save a year by having
  employees use their intranets for
  employee-to-enterprise business tasks.
  
• Suppliers can see a clients production schedule
  and deliver products just-in-time.

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E-Analysis

• We need tools to analyze consumer buying
  patterns, behaviors at web sites, and
  preferences.
  
• We need to understand the issues involved in the
  entire value chain and where savings can be
  maximized.
  
• Companies such as DoubleClick, Microstrategy, and
  Accrue are active in this sector.
  
• See the article on Chief Privacy Officer in NYT.

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E-Markets

• Vertical e-marketplaces bring together customers
  and suppliers who share information, enter
  discussions, and auction excess merchandise.
  
• VerticalNet is a leader in this arena.
• In Autos we have Covisint, powered by Mercator,
• In Steel, e-Steel, powered by, including BEAs
  WebLogic and webMethods.
  
• In Plastics, there are many, including
  PlasticsNet visit their web site.
  

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Types of E-business (1)

• Aggregators (Yahoo, Alta-Vista, Excite)
• Facilitators and brokers (Amazon, Ebay, Barnes
  and Noble, Groove, Napster)
  
• Marketplaces (Covisint, E-steel, )
• B2B Integrators (webMethods, i2, )

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Types of E-Business (2)

• E-Business Infrastructure
• Advertising (DoubleClick)
• Business Intelligence (Microstrategy)
• Customer Relationship Management (Broadvision,
  Seibel, )
  
• Database Providers
• Oracle, Informix, Sybase, IBM,
• Consulting Services
• Accenture, KPMG, NobleStar,

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Best-of-Breed

• This space needs to be filled in with Case
  Studies.

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Customer E-BusinessRequirements

• Adapted from Patricia Sebolds new book.
• Open, equal access Internet allows everyone to
  have access to the same information.
  
• Real-Time information up-to-the-minute quotes
  on stocks, airline tickets, inventory.
  
• Specialist information knowledgeable advice
  provided by specialists interpreted and filtered
  information.
  
• Convenient access Anytime, anywhere access to
  information and services.

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Customers Requirements (2)

• Information portability carrying personal
  information for shopping and transactions so as
  to be able to switch suppliers easily.
  
• Process transparency ability to verify status
  of ones processes related to a transaction.
  Crucial for worldwide manufacturing for risk
  reduction and to optimize availability.
• Logistics transparency Customer or supplier
  needs to know the status of orders in the
  fulfillment process.

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Customers Requirements (3)

• Pricing transparency companies will adopt
  global pricing, while customers can easily
  compare pricing and availability in a matter of
  minutes.
• Fair, global pricing customers will cross
  borders to obtain best prices.
  
• Ability to set pricing aggregations of small
  businesses to obtain better prices, Priceline.com
  name-your-own-price methods, auctions.

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Customer Requirements (4)

• Choice of distribution channels purchase
  through traditional retail outlets and directly
  via the Internet. Choice will be important.
  
• Examples include Apple, HP, and Dell
• Control over their information customers will
  want to have increasing control over how their
  information is collected and processed for data
  mining purposes. Sites now allow users to opt
  out of being monitored.