E‐business strategy: how to benefit from a hype

A fundamental approach to setting up an e‐business initiative is needed to fully utilise the capabilities of Internet technology in a specific business setting. Such an initiative has to build on the strengths of the organisation and take full advantage of the opportunities in the market, meanwhile identifying costly unsuccessful projects and preventing unwanted market disturbances introduced by carelessly designed e‐commerce solutions. In this paper, a method is presented for the development of an e‐business, based on research in the area of strategic information systems planning. The proposed method is designed to help clarify a strategic e‐business vision and to solicit management commitment to change and take action on new business opportunities. In addition, it takes into account the unique possibilities of an organisation’s IT architecture, thus further advancing the value of past investments in IT.