In general one of the most important aspects of electronic business is the complete integration of all parts of electronic business. All software systems have to communicate and integrate with all other software systems. There is no point in having island solutions. Pressure and competition in the market demand a fully integrated company.
If we look at simple desktop software suites we can imagine how complex these systems will become. Today in 2001 we have seamless integration within one suite but when we bring down the borders and explore interoperability between different components from different suites, maybe different operating systems, different programming languages, different hard- and software architectures and different database systems, we become aware of all the problems with compatibility, integration, security and many other aspects.
A general idea is to use new technology to support the daily business of a company, organisation or non-profit institute. Business is quite old and we see common business processes in various different industries (e.g. banking, insurance and chemical). Technology is used to empower employees, to automate common processes, to get closer to the customer and save costs, save expensive labour and time to market as well as the general competition pressure of the market. Today companies are doing electronic business but are missing the big picture of collaboration. Companies should not only concentrate on its customers and its processes but enable the seamless cooperation with other companies.