IPO obsession stalls B2B ecommerce growth

NEWS The growth of business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce could be stalled because technology vendors are more interested in their share price than offering well-structured solutions. Alan Gold, VP of marketing at B2B technology vendor eXcelon said the sector will fail to meet expectations if vendors don't clear up confusion in the marketplace. While Forrester Research predicts the market will be worth $1.4tr by 2003, Gold said this could be in doubt if the situation doesn't improve. He claimed vendors are jumping on the B2B bandwagon to increase their market capitalisation and failing to explain the business benefits to users. "I think many vendors are focussed on this pre-IPO, post-IPO frenzy, building market capitalisation and making a name for themselves - in many cases at the expense of the supplier and the customer," said Gold. He said most customers aren't aware that B2B means more than just e-procurement, and involves a broad spectrum of online contact between businesses. Clive Savage, a spokesman for Forrester Research, acknowledged the issues, but insisted business practice will change. He told silicon.com: "eXcelon has a very valid point, but we anticipate companies will listen to what we're saying and change - if they don't change they'll be left behind." B2B giant Commerce One dismissed the bulk of the allegations. As Commerce One is a partner in all of the marketplaces it sets up, it said it's in its interests to communicate the benefits of B2B to its customers. However, Chris Phillips, director of marketing for Europe at Commerce One, said some of the ERP companies - specifically Oracle and SAP - had encountered difficulties making the transition to B2B. Phillips acknowledged there had been a lack of clarity about the scope of B2B ecommerce. He said: "There has certainly been confusion between e-procurement - which covers the electronic procurement of indirect goods over the Internet - and B2B ecommerce, which is about automating every aspect of the relationship between business buyers and sellers." Ben Wright, VP of marketing and alliances EMEA for Ariba, also denied his company failed to articulate the business benefits of B2B to customers and denied it was jumping on the bandwagon.