What is e-Business?

The Web is changing every aspect of our lives, but no area is undergoing as rapid and significant change as the way businesses operate. As businesses incorporate Internet technology into their core business processes, they start to achieve real business value. Today, companies large and small are using the Web to communicate with their partners, to connect with their back-end data-systems, and to transact commerce. This is e-business — where the strength and reliability of traditional information technology meet the Internet.

This new Web + IT paradigm merges the standards, simplicity and connectivity of the Internet with the core processes that are the foundation of business. The new killer apps are interactive, transaction-intensive, and let people do business in more meaningful ways.

It's about to change

An E-business is a company that can adapt to continual change. To manage transitions smoothly, you have to remember two important ideas:

• Start simple, but plan to grow fast.

• Build on what you have.

• It's about business, not technology.

E-business isn't about re-inventing your business. It's about streamlining your current business processes to improve operating efficiencies, which in turn will strengthen the value you provide to your customers.This value cannot be generated by any other means, and value that will give you a serious advantage over your competition.

Expertise you can trust

Whether you're just starting to take the first steps or are already engaged in e-business, taking full advantage of the opportunities e-business can present requires planning and this is where 1-WEB-DEVELOPMENT.COM can help.

1-WEB-DEVELOPMENT.COM experts have a deep understanding of your business needs and the skills and resources to design, implement, and maintain superior solutions — solutions designed to deliver on the promise and potential of e-business.

About this Web site

The 1-WEB-DEVELOPMENT E-business Web site is a resource for people who want to build and grow successful companies by maximizing the potential of today's information technology. The site will:

• Tell you what we think about e-business and its impact on business.

• Explain how e-business can provide new value to your company.

• Show you how 1-WEB-DEVELOPMENT solutions fit into the picture.

• Expect this site to change. A lot. After all, 1-WEB-DEVELOPMENT is an e-business, too.

e-Business processes

So how does your company become an e-business? How can becoming an e-business help you maximize the value of your information technology investment? How can it help you reduce your costs and grow your revenue? There are four important areas or stages in this process. We think of these four stages collectively as the e-business cycle. They are:

• Transforming core business processes.

• Building flexible, expandable e-business applications.

• Running a scalable, available, safe environment.

• Leveraging knowledge and information you've gained through e-business systems.

There isn't a set order or hierarchy to this cycle. Successful e-businesses start at different points, and you can, too. But first, you must identify which of your core business processes are most suitable for, or most in need of, conversion to e-business.