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By Tony Hallett, 5 July 2000 00:30

COMMENT Just two days ago we wrote about e-marketplaces - the emerging trading hubs based on internet technology that are set to radically alter the way businesses deal with each other. These exchanges are the technology story of the year, we said, and their impact will be huge. While it might be foolish to suddenly disagree with either of those statements, doubts are now surfacing in some quarters about the way e-marketplaces will work. Cataloga, a company which publishes electronic catalogues - vital in allowing buyers and sellers to make informed decisions in the new environment - this week criticised some emerging exchanges for standing in the way of suppliers getting their goods and services online. Meanwhile, infrastructure supplier iPlanet - born of Netscape's sale to AOL and Sun Microsystems - told silicon.com that market leaders Ariba and Commerce One are committing that age old IT sin of pushing proprietary solutions when open systems are what's needed. But does this mean the e-marketplace is dead in the water? The original home of the EDI marketplace thinks not. The automotive industry's Covisint (DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM and Renault) is a case in point, quickly followed by aerospace leviathans BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. These stalwarts of electronic trading have been joined by the retail industry's GlobalNetXchange (formed by Carrefour, Metro, Sainsbury's and Sears) and these three markets will soon cumulatively account for almost one trillion dollars of business. If corporate might counts for anything, it will ensure the success of the e-marketplace concept, but where does this leave suppliers? Some, it can be argued, deserve a dose of healthy competition and will raise their game. However, others won't find e-marketplaces an opportunity to access new markets, but a barrier caused by competing exchanges not speaking to one another, or worse still, by buyers clubbing together in ways that might even stir competition watchdogs. E-marketplaces remain the future, but now is the time for technology providers and the large buyers to create the right environment for good suppliers to thrive.