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Auerbach Publications
© 2000 CRC Press LLC
DATA BASE MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPING AN
E-BUSINESS ARCHITECTURE
Srinivas Padmanabharao
INSIDE
E-business Requirements; E-business Architecture; Vendor Offerings
INTRODUCTION
What is an E-business? All definitions that are floating out there strive
to distinguish “E-business” from “E-commerce.” The former refers to the
process of using the Internet and associated technologies to transform
every business process and E-enable all parts of the organization’s value
chain from acquiring, serving, and retaining customers to interacting
with employees, partners, and the world at large. “E-commerce” can
safely be considered one vital but small part in the overall E-business ar-
chitecture.
There are two basic categories of businesses conducted over the Inter-
net. The first category is the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) segment, which
includes the popular, Wall Street-friendly businesses like Amazon, E*Trade,
etc. The second is the Business-to-Business (B2B) segment, which is in-
creasingly overshadowing the B2C segment and includes such names as
Chemtex and AutoExchange. Despite fundamental differences in the busi-
ness models of these two categories, they share one common key aspect
— use of Internet technologies to
manage all aspects of the business.
This article presents an integrated ar-
chitecture for these Internet technolo-
gies so that organizations can
effectively implement whichever type
of business model they choose.
PAYOFF IDEA
This article looks at the requirements for an E-
business and explores some major trends in the
marketplace today. While much of the article fo-
cuses on the technological requirements of set-
ting up and managing an E-business, it must be
kept in mind that the greatest technology does
not make a successful business if it is not accom-
panied by a sound business model and effective
management..
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