Defining Business-to-Business E-Business

Some Web analysts maintain that 80 percent of e-business transactions occur between businesses．Business-to-business e-Business is defined as sales made by one business to another．You'll also see the abbreviation B2B used to refer to Internet transactions conducted between two or more businesses．For example，a printing business that uses the Internet to order paper from a paper company engages in B2B e-Business．The final consumer of the printing company's products is not yet involved．

B2B Activities

One of the key activities associated with B2B e-Business is the overhaul of inefficient trading processes．Companies can use the Internet to contact suppliers，and then place and track orders as products make their way from the suppliers to the company's front door．Companies can also electronically connect with accounting services to record transactions and pay taxes．In fact，just about any transaction that can be conducted with paper or over the phone also can be conducted via the Internet．

B2B Opportunities

Many opportunities exist for Web entrepreneurs to provide businesses with e-Business solutions．Take Truckers Co-Op.com，a B2B venture in the trucking industry，as an example．Truckers Co-Op.com operates a B2B Web site for small-to mid-size trucking companies．The Co-Op purchases large quantities of the products and services used to run a trucking business and then sells them at discounted rates to its members．As a result of this economy-of-scale purchasing，members can realize significant cost savings on products and services such as fuel，tires，insurance，long-distance phone services，trailer leasing，motels，and office supplies．

Intranets

An Intranet is a group of connected networks owned by a company or organization and is used for internal business purposes．Only authorized users，such as company employees，can access an Intranet，usually by entering a password．The Web sites on an Intranet can look just like Web sites available to all users on the Internet．The difference between a Web site that can be accessed from the Internet and one that must be accessed from an Intranet is that a firewall surrounds the Intranet to prevent access by unauthorized users．A firewall examines each message that enters and exits an Intranet，and then blocks any messages that do not conform to specific criteria．

Extranets

An Extranet is an extension of a company's Intranet．The difference is that an Extranet can be made accessible to selected people or groups outside the company．Many B2B transactions occur over Extranets．An individual can enter a company's Web site on the Internet，obtain a password，and then join the company's Extranet to conduct transactions and obtain information not available to the public．Extranets are also used to connect a company's corporate Intranet with the Intranets of the company's suppliers，distributors，and corporate customers．

Contract Bidding Process

One of the most interesting—and potentially lucrative ways that companies can use B2B e-Business is to facilitate the contract bidding process．For example，two companies that manufacture plastic bubble wrap can electronically bid on a contract to supply packing materials to an online toy store．The bidding process can take place online in real time，and the contracting company can notify the winning bidder instantaneously．Both the bidding and contracting companies save time and money．

Notes

1．Intranet:A network based on TCP/IP protocols(an Internet)belonging to an organization，usually a corporation，accessible only by the organization's members，employees，or others with authorization．An intranet's Web sites look and act just like any other Web sites，but the firewall surrounding an intranet fends off unauthorized access．

2．Extranet:Whereas an intranet resides behind a firewall and is accessible only to people who are members of the same company or organization，an extranet provides various levels of accessibility to outsiders．You can access an extranet only if you have a valid username and password，and your identity determines which parts of the extranet you can view．

3．Firewall:A system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network．Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software，or a combination of both．Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet，especially intranets．All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall，which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria．

Further Exploration

In 2000，an article，B2B E-Commerce:The Quiet Giant，which was published in well-known magazine E-Commerce Times，pointed out“Business-to-Business online revenues will swell to 1.3 trillion over the next three years while Business-to-Consumer e-Commerce revenues will only reach 108 billion”．

Now six years passed，please find out if the prediction has already turned out to be the truth．