While B2C dot-coms may have fallen out of favour, it's a different story in the B2B sector, where B2B e-marketplaces--even after the dot-com crash--still hold some currency.
A Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Line56 Research survey found that more than 75 percent of respondents consider e-markets either strategically important or a source of competitive advantage. Even so, many e-markets of all types are still working out how to reconcile the high hopes of the past with the bottom-line deliverables that enterprises require in the present.
If you're taking your business to an e-market, it's helpful to consider the lessons of the past few years.
E-markets make a comeback
2001 was murder on e-markets. But after learning a number of painful lessons, surviving e-marketplaces of each type--consortia, private, and independent--may be turning the corner as they build volume and approach financial stability. At the same time, more and more enterprises are learning to take advantage of e-markets to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. Should yours be among them?
The big, bad Consortia
Consortia e-markets enjoy the backing of the world's biggest enterprises, but they've met with mixed success. Where everyone's a player--and a big player at that--can they find a way to get along--or will they sink under their collective weight?
Private e-markets: Membership has some privileges
Private e-markets are all about control--control over who gets in, control over strategic info, control over the technology platform. Membership can have its privileges--but it can also be a two-edged sword.
Independent e-markets struggle for survival
Being independent may sound great, but with e-markets--where trading volume equals survival--going it alone has proved rough going. Battered by consortia and private exchanges, those independents that have survived are working to build on their model's strengths, while others are changing their stripes altogether.
