So what is Applix???
No doubt that Applix has benefited stock price wise because of Linux. I would suggest that several thousand folks now have heard or looked at Applix because of Linux. But iTM1 and CRM are E-Business-To-Business core products.
Now do any expect the Linux business to be $1.3 trillion in 2003???
OK so what's the point??
Date :01/13/2000
Author :Claire Mencke
Copyright :Investor?s Business Daily
Title :Forrester's Varda Lief On The E-Business-To-Business Boom
investors.com
Since then, Forrester raised its estimates of how large e-business-to-business sales could become.
In late 1998, it forecast a 99% average annual growth rate - to $1.3 trillion in 2003. And now, if history is any guide, it's about to raise those numbers again in a new report.
IBD: Where did this surge in business-to-business e-commerce come from? Is this an outgrowth of Electronic Dissemination of Information, or EDI?
Lief: Not at all. It's totally unrelated. It's an outgrowth of people seeing the value of the Internet, which is bringing disparate or geographically distant buyers and sellers together - people who don't have trouble finding each other. The Internet is the low-cost way to find each other. And then, by the way, you can also automate stuff. It's totally unrelated to EDI. It's about getting rid of
inefficiency.
I'd suggest all read the article in full. This is very strategic infomation.
It's about getting rid of inefficiency. Productivity which translates into no/less inflation and more and more 401k's and EDAT means more volitility and it all means I make more money. I HOPE...
Tom Watson tosiwmee
Full text of IBD article....
Date :01/13/2000
Author :Claire Mencke
Copyright :Investor?s Business Daily
Title :Forrester's Varda Lief On The E-Business-To-Business Boom
Retailers aren't the only ones winning big on the Net. Two years ago, Forrester Research projected that Internet business-to-business sales volume would grow to $327 billion by 2002. For perspective, total retail merchandise sales in 1997 were around $685 billion.
Since then, Forrester raised its estimates of how large e-business-to-business sales could become. In late 1998,
it forecast a 99% average annual growth rate - to $1.3 trillion in 2003. And now, if history is any guide, it's about to raise those numbers again in a new report.
Why the big upward revisions? Look at current e-business to business, says Forrester senior analyst Varda Lief.
Companies such as computer and electronics makers - early entrants - find that it drives a substantial part of their business more cheaply and efficiently. Also, e-commerce technology has developed to the point where many manufacturers and distributors can use it. This means most business-to-business buyers and sellers can urge customers to buy and sell online.
IBD recently spoke with Lief about e-business-to-business trading and what it might mean for buyers and sellers inside and outside the loop.
IBD: You project that Internet business-to-business revenues will grow 99% a year on average. Is this the most important metric?
Lief: We look at revenues as a measure of gross transaction value. That's because people take different commission levels on the transactions that they do over the Internet.
Some people at this point are doing things for free. Some are charging a subscription fee. There are lots of different revenue models. What's important from an economic perspective is to show displacement of revenues relative to offline sales. And you do that through measuring revenues.
IBD: How fast are different industries and companies moving to Internet business-to-business purchases and sales?
Lief: Our projections for 2003 show the percentage going online varies widely by industry, from 20.3% for computing to 1.2% for industrial equipment.
IBD: Where did this surge in business-to-business e-commerce come from? Is this an outgrowth of Electronic Dissemination of Information, or EDI?
Lief: Not at all. It's totally unrelated. It's an outgrowth of people seeing the value of the Internet, which is bringing disparate or geographically distant buyers and sellers together - people who don't have trouble finding
each other. The Internet is the low-cost way to find each other. And then, by the way, you can also automate stuff. It's totally unrelated to EDI. It's about getting rid of
inefficiency.
IBD: What's the entry point into this for most companies that use Internet business-to-business systems?
Lief: Most business trade is not about new customers. It's about automating what can be automated and beefing existing relationships. It's not about customer acquisition for the most part.
IBD: Can both large and small firms realize comparable economies of scale from business-to-business e-commerce?
Lief: They could have different types of economies. For large and small firms, the economies may even be equivalent on a percentage basis. But they're based on different dynamics. Small companies typically are understaffed and have cash-flow issues. They can find a bigger base of suppliers to compete for their business. A large company typically knows the suppliers that meet its demands. Typically, they're ordering in volume, and it has to be from someone who's completely reliable. But they can now scale up in ordering more stuff, with a smaller number of purchasing agents. Or they can monitor their own demand, and can understand when they qualify for the next volume discount.
IBD: Where might Internet business-to-business commerce not work?
Lief: There are sectors within industries for which it's inappropriate. There's no industry per se for which it's
inappropriate.
IBD: What's an example?
Lief: There's a lot of value in the Internet for distributors because they're bringing buyers and sellers together, and they may have excess inventory to get rid of.
But there are certain portions of the supply chain for which an auction, for example, is inappropriate. You're not going to see a lot of auctions in energy, for instance, because electricity can't be stored.
IBD: Are there many horizontal business-to-business e-commerce organizations - across industries or sectors,
or are most still vertically organized?
Lief: There's both. I think the vertical ones are stronger.
IBD: Do you see a lot of dislocations in firms as they adapt to this way of operating?
Lief: Absolutely - both online and offline. There will be consolidation online, I would say within the next 12 to
18 months. Offline, certainly there will be dislocations. There will be companies that simply can't make the transition.
----------------------------------- |
