InformationWeek

Tuesday, March 18

E/Commerce Success Tied to Management Commitment

Companies need to assign a VP/level executive to head their electronic commerce efforts, Gartner Group research director Barbara Reilly said Tuesday at the Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference and Exposition in New York.

In a well-attended session at the conference, Reilly said that if E -commerce is done right, it will affect a company's legacy technology, business processes, and organizational structure. Because of that, E-commerce requires the attention of the highest levels of management. "Before you start, you better understand what you're going to have to do to accommodate your existing processes," she said.

At least one vendor exhibiting E-commerce technology at the show agreed. "If you're using E-commerce as a vector for process re-engineering, that direction needs to come from the top," said Patrick Leung, VP of development at InterWorld Technology Ventures, a New York-based developer of high-end Net commerce software.

Reilly predicted that outsourcing of E-commerce technology and processes will be an increasing popular option for many companies that can't find the right mix of skills in Internet technology, legacy systems, and business processes. "Companies may get forced into outsourcing,ý she said. "They may not be able to find the people they need and will look to outsour cing as a solution."

Reilly also predicted that the Internet will not replace EDI, but that EDI software vendors who fail to adapt their products to the Net will risk going out of business.

--Clinton Wilder

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