Electronic business

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electronic Business, or "e-business", may be defined broadly as any business process that relies on an automated information system. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies. The term "e-business" was coined by Lou Gerstner, CEO of IBM.

Electronic business methods enable companies to link their internal and external data processing systems more efficiently and flexibly, to work more closely with suppliers and partners, and to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers.

In practice, e-business usually includes e-commerce. E-commerce seeks to add revenue streams using the Worldwide Web or the Internet to build and enhance relationships with clients and partners and to improve efficiency using the Empty Vessel strategy. Often, e-commerce involves the application of knowledge management systems.

E-business is more than just e-commerce. It involves business processes spanning the entire value chain: electronic purchasing and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, handling customer service, and cooperating with business partners. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow the integration of intra and inter firm business processes. E-business can be conducted using the Web, the Internet, intranets, extranets, or some combination of these.

E-business includes

Applications can be divided into three categories:

1. Internal business systems:
   • customer relationship management (CRM)
   • enterprise resource planning (ERP)
   • employee information portals
   • knowledge management
   • workflow management
   • document management systems (EDMS), also known as content management systems
   • human resources management
   • process control
   • internal transaction processing
2. Enterprise communication and collaboration
   • VoIP
   • content management system
   • e-mail
   • voice mail
   • discussion forums
   • chat systems
   • data conferencing
   • collaborative work systems
3. electronic commerce - Business-to-business electronic commerce or business-to-consumer electronic commerce
   • internet shop
   • open catalogue
   • electronic funds transfer
   • supply chain management
   • e-marketing
   • online marketing
   • online transaction processing
   • music downloads