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| What is a difference between
e-commerce and e-business? Please give an example. |
| This question posed on 15 July 2002
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I doubt that there is a formal distinction made
between the two in the press or among technologists. However I would
make the following distinction in the types of use that companies
are employing the internet for. E-commerce might be considered the
use of the internet as a company's primary or exclusive portal to
its customers. Amazon or eBay conducts all of their business on-line
and their products and services are exclusively those which can be
sold on-line. Most of the dot-coms fall into this category. The
implication is that the systems they build and buy to support this
business tend to be fairly well integrated from the outset. Also,
the system objectives have a single focus: support an online
process.
The other side of the coin, call it e-business, refers
to companies for which internet is one of several channels to
customers and perhaps not even the primary one. Banks are a classic
example, as are companies which have internet storefronts. However
all such entities have other, more primary channels. Consequently,
they also tend to have core systems which are not tailored to the
internet environment and may even be difficult to interface to the
internet architectures, yet are necessary to creating the internet
applications. Building internet applications in this environment is
more difficult and requires the collaboration of multiple divisions
within the company (which "balance on hand" should we use?). |
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