The Internet has brought about a dramatic change in the way business is done in today’s world. And building an e-business strategy is perhaps the single most important issue faced by corporate strategists. e-business, of course, is not about technology itself - it’s about how you use the technology to transform your business processes. It’s about new models of commerce, marketing and distribution. In fact, one of the key parameters companies are being evaluated on today is how well, and how fast, they can adapt themselves to the Internet. The big question is, how do you keep pace with the opportunities - and challenges - that the Internet presents? The first step is in understanding what exactly those opportunities and challenges are. The solutions and technology issues will follow from there. Every company must learn to implement far-reaching changes within itself to take advantage of the new ways the Internet allows them, to perform such functions as purchasing, customer service, marketing and distribution, fulfillment, and interacting with business partners. Integration is the key issue. The more you can use the Internet to tie together your corporate infrastructure, goals, and technology, the more effective you will be. Here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself at any stage of your business:  How will my industry be impacted by e-business, in the near
and long term?
How can we gain a competitive advantage in the e-world? Which e-business opportunities should we pursue and invest in? How can we become an e-business, rather than just
implementing technology? How can we be in control of all the independent e-business
efforts underway in the company? How do we measure the impact and return on our e-business
investments? Is there a process that will allow us to leverage the strengths
of our existing high-end systems, while we move towards full
e-business integration in a secure, safe and phased manner? If such a process is available, can it provide us with enhanced
e-business processes and agility now … and not 6 months, or
two years down the road? Can we develop new e-business capabilities without a major
investment in restructuring our enterprise systems? Can all of this be achieved with a low Total Cost of Ownership,
and a fast Return on Investment? e-business is the answer to all the above questions. The new e-business capabilities will benefit your company, as well as your customers, your employees, and your business partners. All of these groups will be able to save time and resources. You’ll be able to enhance your business processes, accelerate your ordering cycles, speed up product time to market, and raise business collaboration efforts to levels that were never possible before. There are four different stages in the e-business cycle: 1. Transforming core business processes. 2. Building flexible, expandable e-business applications. 3. Creating a scalable, available, safe environment. 4. Leveraging the knowledge and information you’ve gained through
e-business. | 
