Determine which e-business initiatives will deliver near-term ROI: Organizations seeking immediate (less than 6-month) return on investment must consider more application-focused e-business areas, in light of current market leader strategies.

Emulate market leaders to consistently leverage e-business services while demonstrating ROI: Collaboration, while valuable, is tremendously overused as a term. The value of collaboration should be deliverable in context, yet a single collaboration platform is nonexistent. Requirements, scenarios, and benefits for internal collaboration should be determined before going "outdoors." Strategic sourcing initiatives, including auctions and supplier relationship management endeavors, must precede implementation. The B2B sell side is not just a "shopping cart"; it encompasses order management, parter relationship management, field service/warranty, and customer service/support, as well as catalog, configurators, etc. It must also link with buy-side applications such as SCM and e-procurement.

Other back-office systems that require integration include operational application and transaction management for business areas such as warehouse management/fulfillment and financial services/settlement. During 2002-03, market leaders will build out a responsive, closed-loop, SCM architecture to ensure continued performance improvements. Customer retention and satisfaction demands, rather than ROI, typically drive a growing B2B sell side.

Content will increase as a strategic asset, as it is required by customers to conduct transactions and by partners for business collaboration. Content will continue to grow exponentially, with the proviso that in-context content generates transactions and aids decisions, while incomplete/irrelevant content inhibits them. To emulate market leaders, enterprises should invest rationally rather than emotionally--and select strategic vendors, but deploy tactically.

Decipher how to purchase, implement, and integrate e-business capabilities: Portal design and usage are evolving quickly, as are customer demands for the same. Private and consortium Net markets will survive despite the doom and gloom about public Net markets. In 2001, market leaders (and market makers) should invest prudently, not emotionally. For example, in building the (private) Net market operating system, users should be sure to examine business requirements before rubber-stamping vendor selection, and consider emerging vendors, as they are often able to provide more precise capabilities for varied industry requirements. Rapid deployment and flexibility will win out, making sourcing and operations critical components.

Above all, enterprises must reconcile the expanding number of relationships in the value chain. This increase led to the complexity and chaos endured in 2000-01. During 2001-02, enterprises must plan for extension of CRM philosophies and capabilities to accommodate more than "customers." That is, businesses must apply CRM's "360-degree customer view" more broadly to collaborative PECS-style (partner, employee, customer, supplier) relationships as well as leverage inter-relationships between the "buy side" and the "sell side." Inter-enterprise integration process and data integration are critical technologies for integrating links in the supply chain. Organizations should mitigate inter-enterprise integration risk with a clear understanding of what "virtual enterprise" means, for the business and for its trading partners. To decipher e-business capabilities, enterprises should beware of vendors' "flavor of the week" (e.g., private Net markets, portals). In particular, IT groups must take specific steps to help the business mastermind enterprise portals, XRM efforts, and private Net markets as "integration efforts in disguise".

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