Electronic business, e-business, is any information system or digital application that empowers business processes. Today, this is mostly done with Web-based technologies.

Electronic business enables companies to link their internal and external processes more efficiently and flexibly, work more closely with suppliers and partners to better satisfy the needs and expectations of their customers.

In practice, this involves the introduction of new revenue streams through the use of e-commerce, the enhancement of relationships between clients and partners and improving efficiency from using knowledge management systems. E-business can be conducted over the public Internet, through internal intranets and over secure private extranets.

It is more than just e-commerce. It covers business processes along the whole value chain: electronic purchasing ("e-procurement" ) and supply chain management, processing orders electronically, customer service and cooperation with business partners. This applies to traditional and virtual organisations. Special technical standards for e-business facilitate the exchange of data between companies. E-business software solutions allow to integrate intra and inter firm business processes.

E-business includes

Applications can be divided into three categories:

1) Internal business systems:

• customer relationship management
• enterprise resource planning
• employee information portals
• knowledge management
• workflow management
• document management systems
• human resources management
• process control
• internal transaction processing

2) Enterprise communication and collaboration

• e-mail
• voice mail
• discussion forums
• chat systems
• data conferencing
• collaborative work systems

3) electronic commerce - Business-to-business electronic commerce or business-to-consumer electronic commerce

• electronic funds transfer
• supply chain management
• e-marketing
• online transaction processing

Scope of e-business applications

These applications can be available to different kind of users:

• all users of the internet
• only the employees on the intranet
• a specified targeted group of users of an extranet (like customers, partners etc.)

See also

• electronic commerce
• management information systems
• information technology management
• intranet strategies
• jargon
• buzzword
• dot-con

Resource

• InfoCog.com: start an online company, business information and resources.
• MerchantPicks.com - Resource and Directory of E-Commerce marketplace,how to eatablish online store, payment processor, fraud prevention, accept credit cards on line.
• Online Shopping & ECommerce Directory

Finding related topics

• list of information technology management topics
• list of management topics
• list of computing topics
• list of marketing topics
• list of Internet topics
• list of economics topics
• list of finance topics
• list of accounting topics
• list of human resource management topics
• list of business law topics
• list of production topics
• list of business ethics, political economy, and philosophy of business topics
• list of business theorists
• list of economists
• list of corporate leaders
• list of companies

Books

• Amor, Daniel, The E-Business (R)Evolution, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, New York, 2002, ISBN 0130670391
• Chaffey, Dave, E-business and e-commerce management, Dave Chaffey, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, New York, 2001: ISBN 0273651889
• Hayes-Roth, Rick and Amor, Daniel, Radical Simplicity, Prentice Hall, New York, 2003, ISBN 0131002910
• Shapiro, Carl and Varian, Hal R., Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy, Harvard Business School Press, 1998, ISBN 087584863X