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.
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.
- 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.
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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.
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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.
E-Business Resources
Books on E-Business
This article originally appeared on Monster.com.
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