In order to start e-business you need be sure you understand what e-business really is. This isn’t helped by the different definitions. In this case e-business includes business-to-consumer (often called e-commerce), as well as business to business. E-business can be viewed solely as a way of doing business over the Internet via the Web but it can be more useful to take a broader view. Here the business is seen as a system of processes, which have been made completely electronic. Such an organisation can do business over the Web but it can also do better business traditionally. In addition, it can be seen as doing business via other media, both now and in the future, by adding in other interfaces to those media, while keeping the core processes the same. Such a view will also help when the Web Interface is superseded by something better.
So to see e-business as just putting up a web site is to miss the broader picture. It also means that web technology is not enough. A technology that does embrace the big picture and integrates with web technology is workflow. Workflow automates business processes completely whether they use a web browser interface or another client (user) interface such as Oracle.
This is a common problem. This will partly depend on your special circumstances and partly on taking the right managed approach. We can help here, for example, with an E-Business Strategy or a Business Case, Apart from consultancy services, our report The Business Case for Workflow is available for purchase.
Typically projects suffer from poor project management, particularly planning, where staff waste time and money re-working because they carry out tasks in the wrong order. Specifications is another problem area. with quality often affected. Proper planning and specifications are a must to avoid such a situation, For further information on our software development services see Software Development Improvement and our Right First Time Software Development Course
A current problem with trying to request information or order from a web page, is that requests are either responded to slowly or ignored. In a survey of 200 leading sites commissioned by Parade Direct Marketing, mentioned in the IMIS journal recently, the worst performer was the cosmetics, toiletries and pharmaceuticals sector, where just 5 of 43 replied. This is seen as backing up an earlier survey where most web sites are described as ‘corporate wallpaper.’ A cause of this can be that the web page is an island. It is not electronically integrated into the response process. A similar problem though can exist with processes within the organisation. The general case is that processes are automated only partly with gaps in the process chain that cause delays, lack of response, slowness, poor productivity and so on. Proper business process analysis and workflow technology can help to avoid these problems. A competitive analysis of other sites in your business sector could be useful here too.
We have carried out several audits of web sites in particular sectors and found the designs to be very wanting. Apart from the problems of getting a reply, as mentioned above, even making an enquiry can be a problem. Web sites are often poorly designed, with not enough attention paid how a prospect or customer can interact with the site easily. Our Trouble Shooting, Auditing, Quality Assurance, Validation and Verification (Testing) services can help here.
While this may have been true at one time, the vast size of the Web now, means it is likely the site will go unnoticed unless it is promoted. This includes both off and on the Internet. A particular skill we have is getting publicity in trade magazines, particularly big splashes in the form of one or two page articles. See PR Services
To contact us:-
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8573 3911
Email: vlilley@lilleyinfosys.co.uk