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| | E-Business
To cover all aspects of e-business, you'd need to read a stack of books (like
the ones listed below), conduct some research and maybe even take a course or
seminar. But who has time for that? Here's a short primer that will help you to
get your brain around some basic components of e-business. The emphasis here is
on how to move your career into an e-business focused world. As more and more
companies develop e-business strategies, the need for competent, knowledgeable
employees will also grow. Learn all you can about it now, and you'll be more
employable today and in the future.
E-business concepts are complex and rarely the same from week-to-week. As
more companies adopt Web-based technologies and as the technologies evolve,
e-business will continue to change. Just when you think you've got it tamed it
morphs into a different animal.
In a nutshell, IBM defines e-business as "the transformation of key
business processes through the use of Internet technologies."
Some of those e-business processes include
 | buying and selling over the Internet (e-commerce)
| conducting customer service in real time using Web-based tools
| communicating with suppliers, employees and clients by using collaborative
technologies
| online marketing and advertising. |
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Mark Pinsley, vice president of sales and marketing at Inforonics,
provides some valuable insights into the staffing needs of e-businesses.
Inforonics helped Thomas Register move its entire print-based business onto the
Web, and created the Wiley Web Catalog for independent publisher John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.
Here are some of his suggestions for succeeding in the e-business world.
| Understand the language of e-business. Know the meaning of such key
terms as branding, dematerialization and click-through.
| Go above and beyond the call of duty. Pinsley says his company
looks for people who work hard, period. "If the end of the day for you
is five o'clock, forget it." Companies need employees who are willing
to go the extra mile to complete a project.
| Know how to manage outside vendors and contractors. Companies are
outsourcing more and more, so you should be able to understand how to
evaluate and work with outside vendors. Make yourself invaluable by becoming
the "internal point person," says Pinsley.
| Be a project management guru. Learn how to use project management
software such as Microsoft Project or IMSI's TurboProject. (Watch for my
in-depth article on project management software coming in June).
| Ask smart questions. When you're interviewing, find out about the
company's future e-business goals and then figure out how you can help the
company reach those goals.
| Know the Web inside and out. It may sound obvious, but we're
talking about more than just how to find a bargain Barbie on eBay. It's
about understanding what the Web can do now -- and in the future. Become an
online research maven and be able to explain how the Web and related
technologies have an impact on the company and the industry as a whole.
"You should be able to suggest things to the management that have to do
with the Web," says Pinsley. For example, how the Web can streamline a
specific business process such as customer inquiries or billing.
| Be a great generalist or a superb specialist. Learn about the
technologies that are important to e-business such as Perl, Java and Cold
Fusion. "You should try to be very skilled at learning new
languages/technologies or be very narrowly focused on a few technologies and
know them extremely well," advises Pinsely.
| Work in Web time. Be fast, flexible and adaptable - or risk getting
left behind. |
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E-Business Resources
Books on E-Business
This page has excerpt from the article: There's No Business Like E-Business
Succeed In the World of Internet Commerce
by Sacha Cohen
For answers to individual questions, send me an E-mail at csaleh@webgigz.com
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