EzineECMgt.com: Volume 1, Issue 08 - Outsourcing E-Commerce is Becoming Popular

ECnow.com 1999 trend #03: "Movement of e-commerce to a service industry" and that "outsourcing of e-commerce functions will become very popular."

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September 1, 1999 *2,200 subscribers* Volume 1, No. 08
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Theme: Outsourcing E-Commerce is Becoming Popular http://ecnow.com/top10trends1999.htm

 

Next Issues Survey Question / It Must be Said:

Thank you for your comments, suggestions and response to our survey question. Please keep them coming. Let us know what you think by sending mailto:ecmgt.comments@ecnow.com. We currently have over 2,200 subscribers, if you like what you read, please let your friends know.

Our next issue deals with the movement of e-commerce to a service industry rather than purely product or technology driven...outsourcing of e-commerce functions becoming very popular. We'd like your opinion on 'whether you think that companies have begun to recognize that the value-added stuff begins after the customer hits "submit order"? Is customer service becoming a key point of differentiation'. Please include the city, state/province and country you're from since will publish your initials and geographic info with your response.

Please go to http://ecmgt.com/bulletinboard.htm to respond to this question or send e-mail to mailto:ecmgt.survey@ecnow.com. When you send your response, please list the city and country where you are located.

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PUBLISHER'S COMMENTS: AN EYE ON E-TRENDS

Trend Prediction: Outsourcing E-Commerce is Becoming Popular
Mitchell Levy
Publisher, ECMgt.com

As of the third-quarter of the year, ECnow.com's number three top trend prediction for 1999 is mostly on target, namely that there will be a "movement of e-commerce to a service industry" and that "outsourcing of e-commerce functions will become very popular."

In this context, outsourcing of e-commerce means that a company can "rent" the use of an e-commerce application and access it via the Internet and Web either directly from the software vendor or through a new intermediary, the Application Service Provider (ASP). Small, medium and "dot.com" startup companies see the benefit of outsourcing e-commerce components that are not their core competencies. The large "click-and-mortar" companies, with legacy integration issues and large IT departments, appear to be lagging behind in this trend.

Outsourcing and leverage are two management trends that have been heavily discussed over the last couple of decades. It's important for companies to focus on what they do best and to outsource activities that are not their core competence. By outsourcing, companies can leverage the work, effort and experience of outside partners whose sole responsibility is to satisfy a particular business activity. One of our readers indicates that his company gains competitive advantage by outsourcing. "My company can take on the industrial giants through the outsourcing functions available today," writes reader A.F. of San Francisco, CA, USA. Although the industry is just at the beginning of this trend for e-commerce, there are already a tremendous number of e-commerce activities that are being provided online on a "rental" basis.

The ASP concept is growing dramatically as seen through the recent formation in May of an ASP Industry Consortium (ASPIC) <http://www.aspindustry.org>. According to the ASPIC, an ASP "manages and delivers application capabilities to multiple entities from a data center across a wide area network. ASPs offer a simple and cost-effective alternative to managing technology in-house and help customers precisely control the total cost of ownership." "What we are seeing in businesses today is that the reliance on computer technology within companies is exceeding their capabilities" according to Jaime Schwartzman, V.P. Marketing, at @ccelerate <http://www.accelerateNOW.com>, a start-up company which delivers Web-based communication and collaboration solutions for distributed and mobile workgroups.

The shortage of talented IT professionals and their ability to create integrated e-commerce enabled applications will continue to feed this trend. At this stage in the ASP evolution, there are two classifications of ASPs being bantered around in some circles: the eASP and the iASP.

In the eASP category, a number of the larger enterprise software companies have started initiatives targeted at providing their software via the Internet on a rental basis. Pandesic <http://www.pandesic.com> is a partnership between Intel <http://www.intel.com> and SAP <http://www.sap.com> whose charter is to deliver this type of solution to medium-sized companies. But success in the eASP market will not come quickly or easily due to legacy hardware, software and people infrastructure hurdles that must be overcome by prospective customers.

As to the prospects for the iASPs, the sky is the limit. Most of the traditional services and a host of new Internet-based services are currently available. Here are some examples:

 

E-Commerce Internet-based Services for Rent
Storefrontshttp://store.yahoo.com, http://www.btsw.com, http://www.econgo.com, http://www.affinia.com
Electronic Software Distributionhttp://www.cybersource.com, http://www.buydirect.com
E-Marketing Automationhttp://www.rubricsoft.com, http://www.marketfirst.com
Affiliate Marketinghttp://www.linkshare.com, http://www.befree.com
Newsletter Distributionhttp://www.egroups.com, http://www.onelist.com
Customer Interaction: live communicationhttp://www.liveperson.com, http://www.hearme.com
Customer Interaction: automated e-mail responsehttp://www.brightware.com, http://www.egain.com
E-mail Marketinghttp://www.markethome.com, http://www.lifeminders.com
Online Auctionshttp://www.ebay.com, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.moai.com, http://www.opensite.com
Create Your Own Search Enginehttp://www.jayde.com, http://www.searchbuilders.com
Running a Bulletin Boardhttp://www.befree.com
Location Mappinghttp://www.mapquest.com, http://www.mapblast.com
Online Calendar Applicationshttp://www.ecal.com, http://www.when.com
Actively monitor the online communityhttp://www.ewatch.com, http://www.cycheck.com, http://www.cyveillance.com

For more examples, please check out either of these two Web pages:

As you can see, there are a number of companies providing e-commerce services and we are just at the beginning.

Let me leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from readers who responded to this month's survey:

A Special Note to our readers: Don't miss the upcoming ASP events in the US and Europe, sponsored by ASPIC http://www.aspindustry.org/events.html.

I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

See you in cyberspace,

Mitchell Levy

President, ECnow.com <http://ecnow.com>
Publisher, ECMgt.com <http://ECMgt.com>
Coordinator, SJSU-PD ECM Certificate Program <http://ecmtraining.com/sjsu>

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ConnectInc.com (Nasdaq: CNKT) delivers next-generation Java technology-based electronic commerce solutions for DotCom startups, vertical portals, infomediaries and trading communities. The company has assisted B2B pioneers like Nortel and ATT Wireless, and new web startups like NextMonet.com and Promedix.com in building category-defining, market-maker applications based on its MarketStream application software. Visit us online at http://www.connectinc.com

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WorkWorld Technical Career EXPO: Saturday - September 18, 1999

Exhibit Your Company's E-Commmerce Jobs alongside INTEL, VISA, Macromedia, eToys, Sun, Sybase, Women.com and over 100 other companies.

WorkWorld will be held inside of KCBS's all day Celebration of Technology Trade Show. Free to attendees, and exhibitors get the Virtual Career Fair at http://www.workworld.com when they sign up. Plus get two months of Hotjobs.com resume posting and searching capabilities as part of the deal. Presented by Hotjobs.com, Intel, Wine.com, KCBS, and the Potrero Brewing Company. 10 am to 6pm.

CALL Peter Carrara at 415-901-9100 to exhibit.

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Yes, putting up a Web site is easy. But add words like EFFECTIVE, SCALABLE, and SUCCESSFUL, and it gets a lot harder. That’s why having OpenConsult on your next e-business project is a must! Go to http://www.openconsult.com/ecnow for a FREE initial consultation.

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FEATURE ARTICLE

E-Commerce Outsourcing: What to Consider when "Renting" a Web Application
By Gay Slesinger
Editor-in-Chief, ECMgt.com

 

If you're gasping at the term "ASP," you’re not alone. There are as many definitions as there are experts who tout it and vendors who sell it. To some it's the godsend of information technology. To others it's the snake in the IT garden. Either way, it raises many questions: So, what is it? What types of services do ASPs provide? What is available for e-commerce now? What to ask when evaluating a provider?

What is an ASP?

Two primary experts on Application Service Providers (ASPs) give the following definitions:

"An application service provider is any third party whose main business is providing a software-based service to multiple customers over a wide area network in return for payment." Phil Wainewright, ASPnews.com

"An ASP is an aggregator of functional services with the goal of delivering solutions across a network." Rita Terdiman, VP and Research Director, Gartner Group

In my terms, an ASP is a third-party that provides use of a software application that is located, managed and maintained at the third-party's site, is accessible by multiple clients via the Internet or other wide-area network, and is charged for on a per-use, monthly or yearly basis.

One reason this segment is hard to define is that experts differ on the state of the ASP market. Wainewright has identified numerous subsets of the market, whereas Terdiman says, "the state of the market is in flux." For most of us, the ASP phenomenon is new and as e-commerce managers we're curious to know what to do about it.

What Are the Types of ASP Services?

There are three basic business models for ASPs: (1) outsourcing, (2) hosting and (3) the application portal, which jargon aficionados call "netsourcing" or "websourcing." All are versions of outsourcing, although there are fine lines of differentiation.

ASP outsourcing -- differs from traditional outsourcing provided by the External Service Provider (ESP) mainly in the form of payment. The traditional ESP handles the function for the client and charges a pre-defined service fee regardless of the amount of use or activity, whereas the ASP charges on a pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use rental basis.

ASP hosting -- is a form of advanced hosting in which a web site handles transactions interactively over the Internet and integrates with the client company’s existing business applications, which may be in-house at the client site or hosted elsewhere. ASP hosts need to do much more than just run a system for a client – they need to have the application, integration and support to function as an external IT shop for the hosted application(s). Typically only high-end hosting providers can afford the resources to offer true integrated hosting.

Application Portal – is a web destination site that aggregates applications and provides access to them typically via a browser and usually for a fee -- or free, depending on its advertising revenue and partnership agreements.

What e-Commerce ASP Applications Are Available Now?

One fact is sure: there are not as many pay-per-use e-commerce applications available to businesses as there are applications provided by ESPs with traditional business models and payment terms. The initial ASP offerings are targeted primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and have great appeal to start-ups. In addition to the services mentioned in the publisher's article in this issue, according to ASPnews and recent press releases, key e-commerce ASPs include those listed below:

E-Commerce Business-Oriented Applications Available "For Rent"

Store creation, hosting, e-marketing, reporting toolshttp://www.bigstep.com
Digital goods storefront, payment processing, digital distributionhttp://www.digibuy.com
HomePage Creator for e-Businesshttp://mypage-products.ihost.com
Storefront templates, promotional tools, shopping cart, tax and shipping calculations, mall listinghttp://www.icatcorp.com
Subscription-based store builder & manager, order managerhttp://www.amazia.com
Back-end business management & accounting, integrates with popular front-end storefronts http://www.m-usa.com/html/pacecom.htm
Procurementhttp://www.rightworks.com
Office applications (free), support (fee)http://www.stardivision.com, http://www.sun.com/staroffice

 

What to Ask before You "Rent"

As the charts in this issue of ECMgt indicate, currently there are more new companies in this market than established vendors. New or not, in either case there are key questions to ask that pertain to any Internet service provider, and some special considerations for this new way of using applications. The following is a checklist to use in evaluating a prospective ASP service.

To Rent or Not to Rent…

Checklist of Questions for Evaluating ASPs

Questions for the Provider:

Questions to Ask Internally

The Bottom Line on ASPs

It is too early to tell which vendors will be the dominant players over time -- the new ASPs, established application software vendors, system integrators or ESPs. Perhaps the time is right for a new ASP service, such as a web-based customer relationship management service that integrates across a company's diverse rental and in-house applications and presents a unified interface with the customer.

One trend is clear: what we’re seeing now is proof that the web is indeed becoming a service medium.

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Comments From Our Readers

Our bulletin board allows readers to comment on trends and issues throughout the month. Please stop by and add your comments and see all the responses at http://ecmgt.com/bulletinboard.htm

Question of the Month

"What do you expect to happen with e-commerce? Do you expect to see the industry move in the direction of a turn-key service industry, rather than a purely product or technology driven industry? Do you see "netsourcing" (the outsourcing of e-commerce functions) becoming pervasive?"

Selected Answers of the Month

***
With regard to outsourcing e-commerce functions, I think this trend is in high gear. There are so many functions associated with e-business/e-commerce that it's almost inevitable that outsourcing is the only way. Too many areas of specialty, too much competitive pressure, too much customer service required expecting to do it all in house and do it well.

The growth of a company cannot be dependent on every company having an army of technology implementers. They are hard to find and very expensive. The key for technology providers is to be the technology people and enable clients to use applications with only the expertise of their business people required. Therefore the turnkey netsourcing economy should be serving up shortly. It only makes sense. (J.M., Maplewood, New Jersey, USA)

***
The answer is yes - I do expect to see an increase of software being deployed across the Internet and billed on a rental basis. (R.E., London, ENGLAND)

***
It takes several years to produce software and good software has usability testing up front. The Web is changing so fast that most software is going to miss the mark. The solution to this is to have the applications be of a more dynamic nature and have them continually modified and updated. With the net it makes little sense for each business to support the infrastructure necessary to continually upgrade the software so it will need to be done elsewhere. (D.S., Santa Cruz, California, USA)

***
Unfortunately, it most likely will happen. Firms will see this as a quick solution to becoming 'e'. They will miss the boat on differentiating themselves from others in the same market segment, and will not have the discipline to change the business model that e-commerce requires. Especially with the ERP vendors, they will become e-commerce without touching e-business. (R.P., St Louis, Missouri, USA)

***
The ASP market is growing to a USD $2B market. Netsourcing criteria include: support services, reliability, infrastructure (backup, UPS, air, fire, diversity), connectivity, performance, collocation, scalability, partitioning, and security. For many, hosting opens new markets without in-house concerns (shortage of skilled IT talent, 7x24 support, no up-front capital costs). The ASP market is huge yet hard to define. What it can mean:

(M.N., Petaluma, California, USA)

***
If the Internet remains product or tech driven it will go nowhere. The net has to become service and marketing driven. Most of the services that we now see developing will soon have to be scrutinized with cost cutting being a big factor. Outsourcing has traditionally been the tool to do this that companies used in a variety of industries.

Hand in hand with outsourcing key elements in the business of the net will have to be developed globally with local constraints in mind. Example, India has only 100,000 credit card merchants in the country. This is the size of Jacarta alone. If businesses sell goods and services on the net via credit cards they will have to redesign their payment mechanisms to get the critical market mass in India (eg. VPP, mail order, check orders). Anyone with better ideas and implementation of these key elements will win business hands down. (A.B., Calcutta, INDIA)

***
The prospect of netsourcing becoming a turnkey service is very probable and desirable for companies which are focusing their expertise on their own service or product. This type of service would be extremely valuable to those who cannot afford to rely on hiring an in-house expert, and this would give them a greater latitude to change who they source this to if the results are not to their satisfaction. I would liken this to hiring an advertising firm to build the image and then maintain that portion of the competitive edge. (D.R., Santa Cruz, California, USA)

***
I do believe that industry will migrate toward turnkey e-commerce solutions. Recently, KPMG has partnered with Quest and Cisco in an aggressive strategy market and deliver on this promise.

I am currently involved with ERP implementations in the middle market. In working with senior executive teams to formulate strategy, the daunting cost of an ERP initiative is often the largest obstacle. Turnkey e-commerce solutions will provide new and exciting options, particularly for the middle market, and will drastically lower the point of entry to world-class information systems and tools. (M.W., Connecticut, USA)

***
I worked at SAP and helped found Pandesic (owned by SAP and Intel) which is offering "netsourcing" e-commerce apps and services. My sense of what is happening is that, Yes, there is a trend towards browser-based apps that were once pleasingly-plump-Client apps. Entire companies are springing up to offer such products (services really). The trend will be strong and it will take hold quickly. That said, be dubious of "trends". Too often we extrapolate "trends" five years out (and beyond) and THAT is where we start to sink in our perennial-trend-quicksand. No one knows what'll be hot in five years and in fact most savvy people just try and stay a year ahead of the masses. 'Net apps WILL take hold, but for how long and to what degree is any "experts" guess. (J.M., Laguna Hills, California, USA)

***
A large portion of the e-commerce market will turn to "netsourcing" / "turnkey" solutions for applications and other e-business functions. Many companies are already turning to "netsourcing" for portal management which in some cases includes calendar, time management, and messaging applications and supports intranet and internet functions. A logical extension is desktop productivity, ERP, and CRM applications, etc. Technology companies can use their expertise to bring other less technical companies to the Internet quicker and cheaper and by combining these services with applications can create value that will be hard for business executives to resist. This makes pure economic business sense and will become the standard within the next few years. Product and service sells but the harder question is who will bring it all together. (M.V., Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

***
Companies are struggling to keep up with technology and bandwidth. They are forced to move faster and faster and become more efficient in order to remain competitive. They have recognized the need to outsource some or all of their technology infrastructure to outside specialists. We have already seen this trend with the semi explosion of ASPs. It is natural that e-commerce would follow in these footsteps. (S.C., San Francisco, CA, USA)

***
My company can take on the industrial giants through the outsourcing functions available today. We could choose to do all the activity in house which would mean more time and money spent for quality that is not consistent. But now I can enlist the services of a multi-million dollar firm to perform the tasks for a fraction of what it would have taken in terms of time and money. I just think of payroll functions as an easy example.

Therefore, YES, outsourcing functions is good and popular right now, especially for small to medium sized businesses. However as companies will realize, as soon as they grow to a certain mass and density, it is in their best interest to use in-house resources. ( A.F., San Francisco, California, USA)

***
My opinion (as a working graphic artist/photographer) is that e-commerce will be moving toward "netsourcing" of software applications... (C.G., Santa Cruz, California, USA)

***
I expect to see continued development in the area of netsourcing. This is a logical step forward and could mean continued explosive growth in e-commerce by involving smaller companies in more sophisticated technology. Most every industry moves toward "turn-key" or packaged solutions as it matures. We have seen the time required for an industry to mature shrink with the development of technology. I believe this trend will continue and the e-commerce industry will mature even faster than the computer hardware industry or networking industry has. (J.S., New Albany, Indiana, USA)

***
There will be a complex web of sub-contractors who will be responsible for providing content related to e-commerce. Yes, there will be netsourcing but that will be in various segments - company A will be responsible for co-hosting/co-locating the servers, company B will be responsible for security and access while many others will provide personalized contents. All these will be visible via a portal or similar technology. (S.V., Sunnyvale, California, USA)

***
Yes, the future of e-commerce is through turnkey applications. (A.M., Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA)

***
The long-term outlook will follow the principle of maximum exploitation of major assets. This principle might lead Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, etc. to consider delivering on an application or even module basis. Partnering with an infrastructure vendor would in turn maximize that asset owner's utilization. In time, the trend is one of a service business---a high-tech automat, so to speak...The e-commerce site becomes just the doorway to the integrated content/service economy. (M.I., Laguna Beach, California, USA)

***
The market is splintering in its needs, with large companies and companies with many e-commerce tools in place demanding more integration support, and smaller companies and those with fewer applications in place demanding standard, packaged applications requiring less integration support.

Fortune 1000 companies and e-commerce early adapters will require enterprise software to be provided as a turnkey service. This is consistent with dynamics in other established industries like Distribution and Construction - as the products become more standardized, customers try to improve logistics and all the steps leading to completed purchase.

For smaller businesses and new users doing stand-alone applications, users will focus more on selecting the best tool to solve their particular business problem. These companies do not want the complexity of custom solutions and do not want to pay the higher costs associated with full system integration, for their initial e-commerce projects.

By the way, my opinion is that for e-commerce implementation has barely begun and to become a real mass market (and get to the really big $$), implementation will have to become more standard. Customers don't have the time and money to implement all of the applications that are needed today and there are not enough IT people in the world to make it happen. (S.A., Menlo Park, CA)

***
Yes, e-commerce will move towards turn-key service industry due to the growing needs of businesses today and not be limited to product only. I would tend to think service industry will become a very important part of e-commerce but not necessarily the pervasive function. (M.K., California, USA)

***
E-Commerce will continue to develop along two fronts, namely: products, technology and service; turnkey operations for those services such as on-going consultation, education, etc. Many organizations will not want to develop in-house expertise and will content themselves with developing expertise in their specialized fields. There will be a real need for comprehensive e-commerce support... (E. K., CANADA)

***
Large companies will seek to swallow large swaths of e-commerce by offering turnkey systems. Companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, portals all will vie to be both a conduit (pipe) as well as a provider of services for which they can derive revenues. Smaller firms will continue to build specialized systems and applications, focused on ways to deliver value through customer service and the specific needs of end users. (J.S., Walnut Creek, California, USA)

***
There will be increasing number of outsourcing opportunities, but in many stages of the e-commerce development / implementations, you will see a staggering of in-house and outsourcing. (T.Z., Sunnyvale, California, USA)

***
Large corporations will always develop in-house e-commerce solutions, but the small and even medium size business will opt for turn-key systems where all the expertise, processing, and known costs are performed by a host provider. This will be especially true as robust security is developed and companies become more confident in it. This will be a modern extension of the Service Bureau concept of economy of scale. Business are buying turnkey systems today in an attempt to reduce the time and cost of in-house development. And they are doing it in a massive scale with the current ERP systems inspite of their incredibly high cost (not only purchase but implementation). Still, companies today, large or small, that buy a turnkey system must then have the in-house ability to support it, and this is expensive.

The internet and e-commerce present a new solution where the small to medium company can buy it (an application solution) and have the full solution supplied by the vendor at the vendors site. And the training is minimal as well. All any company will need in-house are small PC's with browsers. People are already learning how to navigate a web site and that can be quickly extended to a turnkey system.

Large companies are already switching their in house systems to be browser driven on an intranet (the systems cost and maintenance savings are enormous). Smaller companies will enjoy this savings through the new age service bureau (Oops, sorry, new age terminology is: "outsourcing of e-commerce functions", golly, even the vocabulary changed. All this presupposes that the Government keep its hands off. (R.C., Silicon Valley, California, USA)

***
As our company struggles to put up its first e-commerce pages which actually take orders and ship product 24X7 without human intervention, our conclusion is that if you want it to work without "gaps" – re-keying or manual connection of information between disparate systems -- you have to do it yourself. XML and other connectivity may allow us to outsource portions of our e-commerce solution in the future while connecting seamlessly to our internal systems, but nothing we've looked at will let us do it yet. (S.F., San Jose, CA)

***
Netsourcing will be a strong option for starters if that is easier to start with and more economical in both time and money. However, although netsourcing has more advantage over pure product driven e-commerce in the sense that it can adapt to each customer, still for fast-changing e-commerce, netsourcing may not cope with the varying situations of each customer quickly enough. In addition, more efficient netsourcing requires the netsourcing industry to precisely understand its customers' need in time. This in turn requires in-depth share of information on the target business which is sometimes not desirable. This security and privacy issue of netsourcing could be an obstacle…Even though netsourcing can become popular, there still will be a lot of need for in-house works for the moment. (G. K., Cupertino, California, USA)

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CONTENTS – ECMGT.COM E-COMMERCE NEWS

 


E-STRATEGIES NEWS
This section sponsored by - TALUS, please visit them at http://www.talus.net
talus.net
ToC

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Companies Are More Aggressive Than Ever Before In Adopting And Deploying Leading-Edge Technology. The Reason: Fear Of Being Left Behind.
At CUNA Mutual Group, a shift is under way regarding the company's willingness to adopt leading-edge technologies. CUNA Mutual, which provides financial services and insurance to credit unions and their 40 million members. is about to go online with an object-oriented database that tracks customer information scattered across a wide range of data sources.

Building Silicon Valley On the Potomac
The internet elite, seated at an oval conference table, was assembled to form the first think tank devoted solely to online issues. They were from companies like MCI-WorldCom, America Online and Network Solutions . Also present were representatives from Johns Hopkins University and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois. Microsoft executives were phoning in. Even Robert E. Kahn, co inventor of the TCP/IP protocol, was in attendance.

Web Innovators -- Commerce’s Wins Big By Thinking Small
While most Web integrators seek to extend their reach into large corporate accounts, Commerce’s Inc. is thinking smaller.

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E-PRODUCTS NEWS
ToC

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CVS Unveils Pharmacy Web site
CVS, the country's largest drugstore chain, today unveiled a new Web site that it said is the first to combine an established online pharmacy with a traditional brick-and-mortar pharmacy chain. The site is the result of the company's recent acquisition of Soma.com, the Internet's first online pharmacy, CVS said. The newly designed CVS site offers over-the-counter and prescription items and 24-hour-a-day access to pharmacists. The site also lets consumers place a prescription order online and choose between same-day in-store pick up at a CVS pharmacy or optional overnight or regular delivery to their home or office, the company said.

 

BuyWiz Launches Universal Shopping Cart
BuyWiz Inc. launched the beta version of a free, PC-based universal online shopping cart that offers built-in comparison-shopping, price tracking and one-click buying.

 

BlueGill To Offer Interactive Bill Presentment, Payment
BlueGill Technologies Inc. next week will introduce new products for companies that want to offer online bill presentment and payment. Web Direct software will convert standard print-stream data being used to produce paper invoices into HTML or a PDF file so it can also be presented on the Web. And three new payment modules will let merchants receive funds directly from customers or via the two primary bill-processing companies, CheckFree and TransPoint.

 

CompUSA To Build Independent Online Store
Computer retailer CompUSA Inc. this fall will re-launch its Web storefront, relying less on cut-rate discounts and more on building one-to-one relationships with customers. But CompUSA's approach is distinctive in other ways. CompUSA is maintaining the wall between its traditional and Web businesses, and keeping the two IT departments and infrastructures separate. The delineation affects customers as well: Online buyers can't return purchases to brick-and- mortar locations, something many E-retailers have begun to accommodate.

 

Innosoft International Directory Portal Products
Three new products from Innosoft integrate XML and LDAPv3 to provide a directory-enabled Web application server platform. DirectoryPortal deploys Web applications that dynamically access and integrate content from LDAP directories.

 

Tool Analyzes Storefronts
E-businesses are demanding tools that deliver top-level views of all their customer interactions, online and offline.

 

Tibco Targets E-Businesses With Updated Middleware
Tibco Software Inc. will seek a higher profile among e-businesses this week when it rolls out the second version of its TIB/ActiveEnterprise middleware suite.

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E-SERVICES NEWS
ToC

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HP, Yahoo Team Up On Intranet Services
Hewlett-Packard AND Yahoo Inc. will jointly offer hosted intranets that combine corporate data with portal services such as calendaring, message boards and stock portfolios.

 

Dell Reveals Internet "Self-Service" Products

Michael Dell revealed today how the Internet will make life easier for corporate PC buyers. Speaking at Dell's DirectConnect Conference in Austin, Texas, Dell unveiled Internet-based software tools that will make it easy for customers to monitor and repair system problems and provide integration across all the departments involved in the procurement process.

 

Satisfaction Guaranteed -- Smart E-Businesses Know That Service Is King
Customer service is the name of the game for e-commerce sites. And it's even more important for Web-based businesses.

 

'My Price' Is Ultimate In Web Customization
If the Web is the ultimate one-to-one medium, then what is the ultimate in customized information? News? Stock quotes? The weather? You can get all those today, but they miss the boat.

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E-MARKETING NEWS
ToC

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Network Solutions To Sell Ads on Whois Page
Reversing an earlier policy, Network Solutions plans to open up Whois, its popular domain look-up site, to advertisers.

 

Make Web Caching Pay Off
Buying in bulk is a fitting analogy for Web caching. Rather than dragging yourself to Best Buy or surfing to an online store every time you need a new Palm Pilot stylus, you can visit a warehouse with the ultimate in buy-one-get-very-many-free sales.

 

E-Commercials: Revolutionizing Electronic Marketing
When start-up DataZone Corp. launched a marketing campaign earlier this year to target its new mobile storage unit at resellers, it decided to try a fresh approach.

 

Delphi Strays From Banner Ad Model
Delphi Forums on Monday rolled out Session-Impression, a sponsorship model for online advertising that lets users navigate without traditional banner advertising.

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SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS
This section sponsored by - CONNECTINC.COM, please visit them at http://www.connectinc.com
connectinc.com
ToC

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Harley-Davidson To Deploy Internet Procurement System
Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson Inc. will deploy Oracle's Internet Procurement software in an effort to meld all its procurement processes, including domestic manufacturing and non-production-related purchasing operations, into a single, automated system used to manage nearly $1 billion in materials and services purchases.

 

Wells Fargo To Test Web Procurement System
Wells Fargo & Co. this week will become the second major financial-services company to unveil a Web procurement service for its business customers. The bank views the as- yet-unnamed service as a way to leverage electronic commerce to expand relationships with its small and midsize business customers, which number in the millions.

 

IBM, i2 Form Supply-Chain Alliance
IBM and supply-chain management vendor i2 Technologies yesterday disclosed a joint marketing, sales, and development alliance. IBM will sell i2's Rhythm suite through its global direct sales force in combination with IBM platform products, system integration services, and E- commerce software. In addition, IBM plans to set up global centers of excellence to explain the value of supply-chain technology.

 

Clarus Changes E-Procurement Rules
Just when you thought buyers and sellers were in agreement on the best way to handle Web procurement, along comes a renegade.

E-Procurement With A Twist -- Free Trade Zone Locates Hard-To-Find Goods
In the electronics industry, it can take a manufacturer weeks just to find the parts it needs, let alone price and purchase them. But IBM and PartMiner Inc. are working on a new e-procurement service that will help electronics manufacturers.

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E-COMMERCE CONTENT, PORTALS & COMMUNITY NEWS
ToC

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HP To Build Insurance Portal
Hewlett-Packard and Delphi Information Systems Wednesday said they've formed a partnership to build the world's first insurance industry portal, ebix.mall, which is set to debut next month on Delphi's ebix.com site.

 

Sybase Updates Database Server, Maps Portal Strategy
Laying the groundwork for what it hopes will be a return to healthy sales growth, Sybase Inc. today unveiled the next major release of its database server and detailed plans to provide technology for building enterprise information portals.

1-4 Worthy Causes' E-Commerce Portal Donates 100% of Referral Fees

Worthy Causes is an e-commerce portal of online shopping malls that have been created for select non- profit organizations free of charge. Featuring popular e-commerce sites like, J. Crew, Avon, Priceline, Office Max, and Renaissance Cruises, these malls are set up so that 100% of the referral fee from every online purchase is sent to a cause a shopper has chosen at no additional cost to the shopper.

 

Amazon's bestseller lists spotlight local tastes
Books by Patricia Cornwell, Stephen King, and the young-adult author J.K. Rowling are topping nationwide bestseller lists this summer, but what is popular in Peoria doesn't always play in Palo Alto, California, as a new local bestseller list from Amazon shows.

 

Epicentric Helps Create Niche Portals
Oliver Muoto and Ed Anuff don't think there are enough portals.

Sybase Updates Server, Maps Portal Strategy
Laying the groundwork for what it hopes will be a return to healthy sales growth, Sybase on Monday unveiled the next major release of its database server and detailed plans to provide technology for building enterprise information portals.

 

Tibco Tips Portal Software, Upgrades App Integration Suite
Tibco Software Inc. next week will unveil server software for business portals, along with an upgrade to its application-integration suite.

 

eBay Struggles To Please
Amid user protest about its proposed policy change, the Web's leading auction house endeavors to balance company strategy with customer demands.

http://www.news.com /SpecialFeatures/0,5,0-40844,00.html?st.ne.180.head

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E-COMMERCE GOVERNANCE & GOING GLOBAL NEWS
ToC

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Overseas E-Commerce to Equal Half of Global Spending By 2003
According to researchers International Data Corp., almost 60 percent of the worldwide online audience comes from outside the U.S. and that population will generate nearly 46 percent of global e-com spending by 2003, up from 1998 levels of just 26 percent.

ICANN Domain Policy Shuns the Courtroom
The international body that administers addresses in cyberspace votes to require domain-name registrants to agree to take disputes over names to an administrative process before heading to court.

 

British E-Commerce Held Hostage by Telcos
Last week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair commissioned a blue-ribbon panel to examine why U.K. e-commerce companies lag miserably behind the United States, Germany and France.

Web Trading Communities Instill Free Trade Ethic
As we enter the last year of a Clinton presidency long on rhetoric but short on conviction, talk is turning to the administration's legacy.

 

Court Rules Against Trademark in Cyber Squatting Case
Reversing an earlier decision, a federal appeals court in California this week ruled that a company with a trademark does not necessarily have the right to prevent others from registering coincidental domain names.

 

Congress Went After Online Booze, Drugs and Cyber Squatting Before Recessing Week
The Senate passed a bill to allow trademark owners to recover damages in cases of "cyber squatting," when it can be proven that a trademarked name was registered in bad faith. The House also passed a measure to curb Internet alcohol sales, giving state authorities the ability to go to federal court to prosecute out-of-state companies that illegally ship alcohol. And a bill was introduced calling for online drugstores to disclose who actually sells the drugs and where they are licensed.

 

Student First to Be Convicted Under E-Theft Act
A 22-year-old University of Oregon student who posted copyrighted software, music, games and movies on his Web site for download is the first person to be convicted under the 1997 No Electronic Theft Act, officials said today.

Day Trading Hits the U.K.

While the United States casts a stern eye on day-trading investors, the U.K. is seeing the stock-flipping gambit for the first time, as several firms try to convince the British public that it's all right to make a fast quid

 

AOL Wants It Both Ways With Free Service
AOL Europe gave in on Tuesday to the tidal wave of free ISPs threatening its market share in Britain by launching a free service there, but it will continue to charge some customers, in a dual-market approach.

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E-COMMERCE PARTNERS & DEALS NEWS
ToC

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Compaq Partners With CGMI To Advance E-business
Compaq furthered its Internet business strategy today with a partnership with Internet marketing tools vendor Engage Technologies, Inc., and an extension of its relationship with CMGI, the new owner of the AltaVista search engine.

 

Razorfish Acquires I-Cube
Razorfish, a New York design and Web-integration company, on Tuesday announced the acquisition of International Integration, a Cambridge, Mass., technology-integration company known as I-Cube.

 

Clarify Acquires Newtonian
Customer-relationship management vendor Clarify Inc. broadened its front-office portfolio last week by acquiring sales configuration software vendor Newtonian Software Inc. for $16.5 million in stock and cash.

 

Internet Reseller Inks agreement With Bloomberg
Onvia.com Inc.'s efforts to provide an online operations center have spread to online media.

 

US Interactive, BroadVision Launch Partnership
Web professional-services company US Interactive (USI) struck an alliance with e-business software developer BroadVision to offer customer relationship management (CRM) and other solutions to clients looking to restructure their business strategies for the Internet..

 

Women.com Forges Japanese Alliance
On the verge of an initial public offering, Women.com announced Wednesday that it has licensed its content to a Japanese women’s site in its first international venture.

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E-COMMERCE MOVERS & SHAKERS NEWS
ToC

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White House Names Director of E-Commerce Task Force
The Clinton Administration appoints Elizabeth B. Echols, a senior adviser, to a new position coordinating electronic commerce issues.

 

Melinda French Gates Goes to Drugstore.com
Online pharmacy Drugstore.com said that founder Jed Smith is leaving the company to pursue a new venture, and that Melinda French Gates, wife of Microsoft chief Bill Gates, has been appointed as a director to the company.

 

SGI Chief Heading to Microsoft
Silicon Graphics Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Belluzzo has quit his post and is expected to take the reigns of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet operation.

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MISCELLANEOUS INFO


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