Recently, I was the fortunate recipient of a review copy of The Death of e and found it compelling enough of a read that I simply had to write a review!
In The Death of e, Peter Finger and Ronald Aronica debunk many of the myths about e-commerce that have turned many of their fervent believers into dot-com roadkill over the last 12-18 months. The premise formerly held near and dear to many -- that e-commerce requires a unique business model -- is ripped to shreds and reconstructed with a vision that sees e-commerce as an enabler of end-to-end processing that just so happens to use automation and automated techniques.
Lessons Learned, Myths Debunked
Myth #1: There is a new economy. Fundamentals are still fundamental.
Myth #2: The Internet is a business fad that faded in 2000. We still need the Internet infrastructure if we wish to advance.
Myth #3: The foremost goal of a company is to deliver shareholder value. Shareholders come and go too quickly to realize the benefits of a value-adding business strategy.
Myth #4: Clever ideas make new wealth. Without a sound business model that adds value, even the best ideas won't survive long.
Myth #5: B2B marketplaces should be the focus of e-business efforts. Focus on supply-side squeezing out of costs might blind a company to other profitable e-business opportunities.
Myth #6: B2C E-commerce is dead. Overpriced stocks in questionable pure-play ventures only prove that greed is not the right tool for company valuations.
Myth #7: The need for speed is central to competitive advantage in the Internet age. Time to market won't make up for poor or faulty business models.
Myth #8: The Internet disintermediates. Aggregators add value and will always have a place in this world.
Myth #9: Build it and they will come. What counts is branding, traditional advertising, and trust!
Myth #10: E-commerce is dead - E-business is not dead. The e-myth is dead. It crashed and burned in 2000.
The new New Economy, not the old New Economy that was predicted to shatter traditional thinking, but the new one that extends what we already know, adds value to the commerce chain and, if thoughtfully constructed, will transform business forever.
Fingar and Aronica tout the virtues of optimizing the value chain and adopting the best of thinking in software development - Web enablement, open message-based services using XML and derivatives of XML, and judicious use of peer-to-peer capabilities - will transform today's business into a future that extends the "old economy" long into the 21st Century and beyond.
I can't recall any recent books on e-commerce that are as provocative and compelling to read as the Death of e. I highly recommend it. If there's one book to read while you still have a shot at e-commerce retrenchment, this one is it!
Related Article:
What Does "e" Mean to Thee?.
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