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The Economist on E-Business
Anachronomous Chowder writes "
The Economist has a smashing issue devoted to E-Business. Andy Grove: In five year's time all companies will be Internet companies or they won't be companies at all. "
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Oh dear!
Cost? Well of course it costs, dearie...but is it cost-effective. My conservative oil-company seems to think so and has invested it's main IT finance in eCommerce and directory/security services.
The information is there already set up in DB2 and SQL silos...and that has been the major cost. What we have to do now is to add XML processing scripts to our directory to add to digital signature and the rest...to daisy chain the silos of information with controllable web scripts (and access) to be used by our business partners. It's the fun stuff, less costly than the original silos of information and more productive in reducing the cost of doing business. This IS the payoff...but in DCF terms it's a no-brainer. I just hope we use Open Source rather than the Redmond muck.
Re your "immaturity of technology" remark, what can one say...yes XML is "early adopter" usage right now...but give us a break. The difficulty with XML and Encrytption is not in the technology itself but in the way it is organized and administered in a large corporation...that's where directory comes in.
My opinion is that the Economist is far from naive. They may not be as informed in depth as Burton, the notoriously conservative Gartner, Forrester or, come to it, maybe yourself...but they do touch all the bases.
I would prefer my management to do their research using the Economist at airport check-ins than most of the stuff available!
Buzz.
Buzz Lightyear
I still think them saying everyone will be an internet company is jumping the gun alot. My father is a roofing contractor and I can tell you right now there is now way in hell he's going to ever buy his materials online. It's too easy to get duped if you cant see the product in person. His business rides on the quality of his materials, there's no way he'll ever buy them blind.
Beyond that, the importance of the web to small business is over-emphasised. Just becasue you see it in TV commercials does not mean it's already happeening. Things that lend themsleves to catalog style purchases will probably go the route of E-business, but there's a ton of stuff that people wont buy from catalogs. Sales forces exist for a reason, to asses the individual needs of a buyer and cater to those needs to create a relationship of trust which will bring repeat business. You dont get that from a website or catalog. Big ticket items will probably always be sold by people. A web site wont make you confident in what you just bought. A salesperson will. Trying to pigeonhole a buyer into a pre-defined demographic is a great way to scare off potential business.
Look at a company like Compaq. Do you think they're the largest computer company in the world becasue they sell direct over the internet? Oh wait. That's right. Until recently they didn't even sell direct. They sell computers with a well oiled global sales organization, something that Dell is just starting to build.
You cant test drive a truck online. You cant see the knots in a piece of wood online. You cant feel how substantial a tool is online. You cant taste a food product online. These are just a few examples.
I think the net will become the most important communications medium in the future, but it's ability to sell products is only important in produts where sales organization does not add value to the relationship. For example the IBM commercial where the japanese businessmen are buying products from some guy sitting in front of a PC in texas is absurd. Those men would not make a decision like that without being flown to Texas and shown the product, not mention they would have been wined and dined.
-Rich