eBusiness allows corporations and their people to communicate and transact business more effectively, because tasks are automated using technology that bootstraps off the worldwide Internet backbone. Whether the communications is system-to-system, user-to-user, or between individuals and systems, the efficiencies are tremendous compared to older applications based processes. All this means that done right, eBusiness can help a company realize increased profits via cost saving and increased market penetration.
Various industries are in different stages of adoption of eBusiness. The capital markets and travel industries to name a few are at the forefront of adopting eBusiness processes and associated technology while the insurance industry is somewhat slower. However, there are companies within all industries which are trail blazers.
Below typifies the eBusiness adoption process and the major focus, penetration and activity. In stage 1, most companies become aware of eBusiness with internal Internet sites using web servers. They progress in stage 2 to an established website on the Internet with static content where at this time there typically is a slowdown in progress primarily due to security issues. Until a secure presence is assured the slowdown is justified. Next in stage 3 information is dynamic and access to core information systems are allowed. Actual transaction over the Internet comes after this in stage 4, the adoption stage, where companies can transact business either by person or between systems. At this point great efficiencies are discovered and the ROI (i.e., Return on Investment) starts to appear - the hard work starts to really pay off. Stage 5 encompasses a large jump in commitment because at this stage re-engineering complete business processes is the key goal. Stage 6 and the final stage is when separate processes are tied together.
