Order Up
By Bill Pitzer
Over the last year, the corporate portal
market has exploded. Just as the hoopla surrounding business-to-consumer (B2C) software offerings has begun to fade, the market for software enabling business-to-business (B2B) transactions has started booming.
Companies are starting to realize how much impact a good online order management system can have on the bottom line. Allowing customers a "self service" solution frees up scarce resources within the company, which can then be shifted to much more critical, revenue-generating tasks. Early adopters of this technology have generally developed industry-specific portals with a concentration on the supply side of the business equation.
With these types of offerings, companies have hoped to create a sort of reverse market in which buyers seek out suppliers instead of the converse. It's definitely a win-win situation as distributors spend less time managing orders and concentrate on customer satisfaction. Those without the technology are now trying to catch up so they can become active participants in these new electronic exchanges.
Ironworks 5.0
Ironside Technologies
www.ironside.com
Contact vendor for pricing. |
This sounds great in theory, but constructing an e-commerce system to accommodate this sort of B2B exchange is often easier said than done. Participation in these new Web-based channels requires tight integration with current back-end systems and processes.
