Businesses interested in E-commerce must radically rethink current business models to be in line with the online paradigm. So says Steve Green, Technology Director at the ERP solutions group SoftworX (previously Baan SA).
"To realise the value of an integrated supply chain and to achieve the results of synchronisation, e-business is essential as it facilitates end-to-end communication and collaboration. It is this shift in the business model that has South African business leaders a little more than perplexed and concerned," says Green.
According to Forrester Research (March 1999), worldwide business-to-business electronic commerce over the Internet will jump from an estimated $131 billion (US) this year to more than $1.55 trillion (US) by 2003.
"While e-business flourishes in the US, in South Africa the process is a little more like teenage sex-everybody is talking about it, but very few are doing it. However, if you`re to stay at the top you had better start to play!" comments Green.
For Green, the momentum driving everyone to e-business-the use of Internet technologies to exchange information and transactions among companies, their customers, employees, suppliers and business partners is clearly going to fundamentally change the way that we do business.
"This online paradigm has introduced speed and business agility. Internet time is astoundingly fast. Where a generation comes and goes within 90 days-how does one keep up and survive?"
However, in order to keep afloat in the dynamic waters of e-commerce, there are certain business issues companies must be aware of such as online customer convenience and service.
"This ensures that you have convenient self-service tools that allow for easy interaction with your company. Understanding that your product is not your differentiator-there are others who probably make it cheaper and better than you do. E-businesses must also understand that the customer determines what the product is, after all, he or she is the one making the purchase," he explains.
For instance, Internet clients are able to customise complex articles like motorbikes, by specifying the model, colour, engine capacity and extras designed to meet their specific needs.
Furthermore, the cost of integrating Internet and back-end systems should also be considered.
In order to meet business requirements of the information age, Baan recently released the Baan E-Enterprise Application Suite. This software solution is integrated with Baan applications to decrease implementation risk and speed time-to-market, allowing customers to reap the benefits of e-business.
"The applications are built on a platform that offers a lower total cost of ownership than implementing multiple point solutions and eliminates complexity by focusing on a shared strategic platform. These self-service applications offer end-user convenience by allowing access anywhere and at anytime," describes Green.
The Application Suite includes:
Baan E-Sales that seamlessly integrates with Baan Front and Back Office to allow businesses to sell direct or through channel partners using consistent methods. The highly customisable user interface enables businesses to dramatically shorten sales cycles and enables Web ordering to provide customers convenient 24/7 access and a personalised buying experience. In addition, robust product configuration tools deliver accurate sales order specifications and guided selling based on needs analysis.
Baan E-Procurement, an intranet-based indirect procurement solution for BaanERP. Employees access a secure, personalised buying environment with a browser-based requisitioning system to speed selection, order, approval and purchase processes. Multi-vendor, multi-media product catalogues can be tailored to meet the specific needs of particular job roles or departments. Purchasing departments or a third party service can maintain the catalogues to eliminate maverick buying and achieve cost savings through controlled purchasing, analysis tools and volume incentives.
Baan E-Collaboration raises information visibility and allows business partners to interact online, improving accuracy, decreasing cycle times and reducing the overall cost of doing business. This solution enables suppliers to access a secure web site to view, approve or import business documents (i.e. purchase orders, forecasts, and shipping notices) published from a BaanERP system. If necessary, suppliers can initiate real-time interaction with the buyer using Microsoft NetMeeting directly from the application.
"Baan E-Enterprise employs the vision of Enterprise Portals as an information hub to offer advantages for customers, employees and business partners," concludes Green.
"We are psyched about your vision!"- Wendy Close GartnerGroup in a comment related to E-Enterprise.
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