B2B

Over the years, the Peppers and Rogers duo have made an outstanding contribution to the field of marketing and the process of developing relationships with customers. "One to One B2B" is yet another installment. This well-written book builds on their earlier works and does a great deal to define in a tangible fashion the new "customer relationship mentality" that is so essential for all organizations to consider in today's real economy. This book is thought-provoking and stimulating. It is evident that the authors who have pioneered the bulk of the original thinking underlying customer relationship management want to share their compelling philosophy. They are very convincing in citing numerous advantages that accrue to those who embrace their way of operating a business. And, this book seems to be committed to showing a straightforward, direct blueprint for implementation. The initial chapters of the book provide an updated version of the principles and philsophy found in their earlier works. These early chapters constitute a worthwhile review, but the also offer some different slants that are extremely valuable supplements. The later chapters are integral to the book's mission. The authors offer very detailed coverage of companies and organizations that have adopted the "one to one" way of doing business. The book provides detailed description in a case study format illustrating the steps of implementation and explaining the benefits associated with each implementation phase. In keeping with their well-established literary character, in the final section of their book Peppers and Rogers have an eye to the future they share with the reader. For example, they don't shy away from offering advice to Dell on future direction in light of the challenges posed by the current environment. And, they take time to weigh the eventual impact of a B2B world that is rapidly extending its scope, offering conjecture from their very informed perspectives. As an academician who has spent significant time studying the CRM movement and consulting with companies that embrace the same, this book definitely offers value and is a must read for anyone that is committed to preserving lasting customer relationships.

Those who have already read any of Peppers and Rogers' previous books (The One to One Future, Enterprise One to One, The One to One Fieldbook with Bob Dorf, and The One to One Manager) no doubt share my high regard for their uniquely creative as well as highly analytical thinking about CRM within the global marketplace. They continue to draw upon an abundance of real-world experience. This book may well be their most important thus far. In it, they suggest and then explain a number of strategies to create and then sustain solid relationships with B2B customers. Even if your organization is not currently involved in such relationships, these same strategies can also be of substantial value. Once again, the authors' essential idea (hardly original, they realize) is that businesses as well as most other human communities (e.g. a political constituency, a religious following, a military force) share at least this in common: Each is built one believer at a time to serve mutual self-interests. In this sense, the term "B2B" is a misnomer because people do business with other people. (Rest assured, I fully understand the differences between and among B2B, B2C, and B2B2C.) Even when purchases are completed electronically, they are initiated and fulfilled by people. Goods are manufactured by people. Services are provided by people. And so forth.

Over the years, when customers have been asked to cross-rank attributes of greatest importance to them, "Feeling Appreciated" and "Convenience" or "Ease of Doing Business" are either #1 or #2. (Remarkably, "Price" is usually ranked between 9th and 14th in order of importance.) It is also worth noting that, as Peppers and Rogers carefully explain in this book, as new efficiencies are created by breakthrough technologies, the quality of one-to-one human interaction becomes even more important. They include five case studies, including one which examines the policies and procedures of Dell Computer. Somehow, they gained access to information which is probably otherwise unavailable, except to those involved in the Dell organization. Each of the case studies reads as if it were a one-act play. However different their "characters" and "plot" may be, all five companies are literally customer-driven. Their ultimate objective is not to achieve "customer satisfaction"; rather, as Jeffrey Gitomer and others have insisted, their ultimate objective is sustainable "customer loyalty" (indeed "customer passion"). Peppers and Rogers provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system to achieve that objective. They would be the first to recommend that each reader make appropriate modifications of that system to accommodate the specific CRM needs, interests, and resources of her or his own organization.

Earlier, I suggested that this may well be the most important book Peppers and Rogers have written thus far. The system they provide in it is worthless, however, unless and until an organization involved in B2B is wholly committed (top to bottom) to doing everything possible to make each customer feel appreciated. One of the best strategies to accomplish that is to make doing business with it as convenient (as "easy") as possible.

Here's another key point. Based on my own extensive experience working closely with all manner of organizations, I have become convinced that organizations cannot be "customer-driven" unless they are first "employee/associate-driven." Those who feel mistreated cannot be expected to treat others well. Therefore, effective CRM depends almost entirely on the quality of relationships within a given organization...and each of them is also, inevitably, one-to-one.

After reading many books about CRM/Marketing One-One, my opinion is this book has to be read as soon as possible. You might have read others like me but this one is a plus. Buy it, read it, apply it, let it pass 6 months, then read it again. Finally, post here how much it helped you. It includes pratical stuff (case studies) of leading companies (Dell, Convergys, etc). This book has to be seen as a complement to others previously written by same authors.

Having seen and read all too many Internet business books over the past few years, Net Markets is a standout. The authors do a great job of articulating a roadmap for the business leader that is not only rigourous and well thought out, but more important, is practical.

Industrial markets have changed significantly, and this is a great expose on what that blueprint for change is going to look like moving forward. Very highly recommended.

Dagenais and Gautschi have blended analytical rigor with straightforward pratical advice for the busy executive. Net Markets puts an enormous topic into perspective--it is easy to read, interesting, and very applied. I especially appreciated the CEO playbook at the conclusion of each chapter. Highly recommended.

~Despite the dot.com bust, and the topping of the Clinton boom in 2001, the revolutionary transformation of global markets gathers pace. This is particularly the case for B2B markets. Dagenais and Gautschi have built up a wealth of practical managerial experience and advise, and distilled it in a readable format for
managers. This is an invaluable reference for anyone seeking to
keep up with the impact of the net on marketing. A most important read.
Jonathan Story
The Shell Fellow in~~ Economic Transformation
Professor of International Political Economy
INSEAD
Boulevard de Constance
77300 Fontainebleau, France~

XML,XML,XML everywhere.

Also, there are tons of RE-written w3c XML specs.
but this is different covering all practical subjects with some java codes.

Make sure, if you are a novice at XML, get another introductory book(like inside XML) first.

When I got this book I already had quite a few XML books in my bookcase, all from Wiley, Addison Wesley, O'Reilly and yes, even Wrox... :-|

Being an IBM Certified Developer on XML, I know my way around the topic and this book certainly qualifies as a great addition to my collection. With all the numerous XML books out there that keep covering the same material, this book with its excellent content on the more specialized XML standards for B2B certainly is refreshing. So even if you know XML very well, you can learn a lot in this book.

Despite its average size the book covers a lot of topics, and the discussions are still very detailed while being concise and "to the point". There is little rambling here. The writing style is professional and interesting, and also include those personal insights that I appreciate in computer books. I like books by pros who use the stuff, not just write about it.

If you're a manager, analyst or some other less-technical IT worker who wants to know a lot more about XML itself as well as its B2B uses, you'll love it. It is technical and you'll have to get your hands dirty a little, but you'll finally be up to speed on XML & B2B and understand what people are discussing around you. Not only will it provide you with the much needed knowledge on XML, Internet transports and security, you'll get a lot on the B2B angle and help you in identifying which technologies and standards you should consider for your business.

Developers who know XML will have to expect some redundancy early in the book since there is a whole chapter on XML fundamentals. It can serve as a good recap, may cover some of the XML-related standards you might not know so well, but definitely paints a clear picture of how the whole range of XML stuff fits together in "El Photo Grande" (the big picture).

Unless you're an Internet protocols and transports guru, you'll learn some very valuable low-level stuff here and be better positioned to understand the impact of your designs. The chapter on security - one of the most critical topics in B2B - is very well explained and is an excellent intro to the various concepts, but you'll need a dedicated security book to truly achieve the necessary level of expertise that is required in the implementation of a B2B project.

Unfortunately, since the book introduces you to many topics and concepts but obviously cannot dig as deep as we'd always want (unless reading a 14-volume work), I would have expected the author to refer us to external resources and other books and he almost never does. There is also no bibliography so no help there either. With all the new concepts in there, a glossary would have been nice too, although there is a much welcome "Notes" section at the end with various references to terms and concepts found throughout the book. The companion website ...does offer references but they're mainly W3C sources (quite exhaustive though).

The best value of the book comes in part II with coverage on the various frameworks, vocabularies and standards in B2B XML such as ebXML, xCBL, cXML, RosettaNet, SOAP and BizTalk. Little of this appears in other books so you'll want to buy this one if only for that. You'll have to do more digging on the one standard you'll pick when comes the time to use these technologies in real-world scenarios, but at least here you'll be able to decide which way to go and why, and you'll be able to start prototyping too.

If you're an XML novice, the fundamentals chapter is nice but you'll want at least another XML book to gain any detailed and "hands-on" knowledge on the classic XML standards (XSL, XSLT, DTDs, DOM, SAX, XLink, XPointer, XPath, etc.) Allow me to recommend "Applied XML: A Toolkit for Programmers" and "XML Specification Guide" by Wiley, and "XML in a Nutshell" by O'Reilly as good starting points. Maybe you could even pick an XML book better adapted to your language since the B2B book strictly uses Java.

I don't mind the Java code throughout the book, even though I'm more of a VB developer. I hate books that provide examples in multiple languages since they waste space and end-up being confusing, and I understand how Java can be the best choice for the widest audience of XML developers. Anyways if you can't read Java code yet, you're probably in trouble already.

All in all an excellent book, I highly recommend it. You can expect the high level of quality that is so customary to Wiley books (and which seems to elude Wrox so often). It's cheaper than other Wiley books but still comparable in price to other publishers. Personally I would have preferred a thicker (even if pricier) book with deeper coverage but here you get a very good return on your money. Enjoy!

I just finished reading this book and recommend it enthusiastically to anybody interested in how B2Bs and extended enterprises must work in the future. The book is broken down into 3 parts: Part 1 explains how B2Bs interact and how trust plays a critical role, Part 2 discusses the concept of e-Trust and business processes by industry, and Part 3 discusses e-infrastructure, security, and controls on a more technical level. Overall, the author manages to provide clear and comprehensive coverage on an exremely challenging, constantly evolving subject.

This provides a comprehensive introduction of concepts and issues involved in B2B integration. The relevant technologies are well explained and positioned in the context of B2B integration.

Steven Kaplan is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University Of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and Mohanbir Sawhney is Professor of Electronic Commerce and Technology at Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. This article was published in the May-June 2000 issue of Harvard Business Review.

In this article the authors introduce a classification scheme for the new business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces, which they call electronic hubs (e-hubs). For this four-way classification scheme the authors introduce a B2B matrix split up by two distinctions: operating inputs vs. manufacturing inputs, systematic sourcing vs. spot sourcing. This results in four categories: (1) MRO hubs are horizontal markets that enable systematic sourcing of operating inputs; (2) yield managers are vertical markets that enable spot sourcing of operating inputs; (3) exchanges are vertical markets that enable spot sourcing of manufacturing inputs; (4) catalog hubs are vertical markets that enable systematic sourcing of manufacturing inputs. For each of these categories the authors introduce the more famous examples. The authors then discuss the market-matching mechanism of the different e-hubs: "E-hubs create value by two fundamentally different mechanisms: aggregation and matching. E-hubs that use the aggregation mechanism bring together a large number of buyers and sellers under one virtual roof. The matching mechanism brings buyers and sellers together to negotiate prices on a dynamic and real-time basis." The authors also discuss another important characteristic of an e-hub, its bias. Some e-hubs are neutral and operated by third parties, but e-hubs can also be biased and favor either buyers or sellers. These are called either "reverse" or "forward" aggregators respectively. There is an additional discussion on the effect of e-hubs on workflows and processes, which are in some cases made more efficient.

Yes, I did like this article very much. Perhaps this article does not provide great new insights for professionals and specialists, but for non-IT specialists (like myself) the authors' classification scheme provides a great introduction into the different types of B2B marketplaces/electronic hubs. The article is written in understandable US-English.

With this work, Colin Rule, who is one of the pioneers of ODR, and also an excellent writer, has given us much to consider about dispute resolution in cyberspace. The book is written for "managers, employees, union representatives, and others who are looking for a better way to handle conflict in their businesses and organizations." There is a interesting overview of the development of online dispute resolution. Also the author discusses his personal experiences in the field, which adds to the overall credibility of the book.

ODR originated in online disputes for which traditional means of dispute resolution were not suited. With as many as 500 million plus people online worldwide, as more businesses and individuals come to realise this significant point, ODR will flourish.

Challenges arising from ODR are covered in sufficient detail by the author and not only alert us to the issues, but also to suggest realistic ways of dealing with them. The author believes that businesses will come to use ODR as matter of course. His book makes a persuasive case for such an outcome.

This is a practical work on an important aspect of ADR.

Mr. Linthicum has given us a gift in the form of a book that thoroughly covers the technical aspects of B2B, and shows how it is vastly different from more traditional methods of application integration.

If you carefully read and assimilate the information contained in this book you will have a clear path laid out for moving from older architectures that use EDI, point-to-point integration and other partial integration schemes to a true B2B architecture that is glued together by an encompassing middleware layer and driven by business events.

Here are some of the key areas of the book that made a deep impression on me: the clear definition of B2B application integration and what it entails, a wide survey of methods based on their orientation (data, interface, method, portal and process), and the balanced discussion of both middleware and integration standards.

Strengths and weaknesses of the oriented methods described in this book are particularly invaluable because the author shows the choices and trade-offs of each choice as an integration strategy. He gave the same comprehensive treatment to middleware strategies. I especially liked the discussion of integration standards because until I read this book I had the impression that XML was *the* way to extract data from databases, transform it into a common format and promote a standard for communicating among trading partners. Mr. Linthicum discusses the strengths of XML, but wisely warns against trying to make it do everything. Sort of like the adage that when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.

The thrust of this book is transforming existing systems into an integrated application infrastructure that will fully support the notion of awareness of business events across all applications. This is a daunting task for architects and integrators who do not have a clean slate with which to design a ground-up architecture. The author addressed the fact that we have to live with that in which we have made heavy investments and proceed from there. This is done in the appendices that show how to integrate SAP R/3 and PeopleSoft into a cohesive B2B architecture. These examples are excellent choices with which to illustrate how it's done because they are realistic examples as opposed to contrived examples of "ideal" situations that other books show.

This book is for architects and IT technical strategists, and for those of us who have technical backgrounds and need to fully understand the technologies and imperatives that are springing up around us. Mr. Linthicum is an engaging writer who packs an incredible amount of information and wisdom into this 408 page book. It easily earns 5 stars and my highest recommendation.

As the other reviewer stated, this book is really the second edition of the EAI book by the same author. However, there is enough new content in this book, focused on B2B, that make it well worth the price. For instance, how XML, XSLT and BizTalk function in the world of application integration. Also, which technology to leverage depending on the situation. I found the way the author links EAI and B2B application integration approaches and technology particularly useful, and cleared up a lot of issues for me. I would recommend this book to anyone working on EAI or B2B projects, like me. If you already own the EAI book, this book should be next on your list to read.

If you're looking for the bible on B2B application integration, or just application integration in general, this is the book for you. The author does a great job in bringing very complex subject matter to an understandable level, including the illusive notion of middleware. I've read other books on middleware, and this book beats them all.

However, the value of this book is not the middleware discussion, but the overview of application integration and its use as a mechanism to move information, in real-time, within and between businesses. The author covers the types of application integration for B2B, enabling technology, approaches, use cases, patterns, and emerging standards including XSLT and RosettaNet. I really liked the discussion of supply chain integration and how it relates to B2B application integration.

It's a winner. I'll be going back to this book time after time. My copy already appears a bit raged out.

The title of this book attracted my attention right away when I saw it on the reading list provided for the MBA/MSE class. My hope was that I would find a comprehensive and detailed action plan to guide me towards success in any e-commerce activities I might undertake in the near future.

Although brief, this book certainly covers the overall aspects of B2B. It provides a clear definition of B2B as opposed to B2C and goes on to successfully emphasize the urgency of taking B2B and change management seriously in order to stay ahead of the game on "internet time". The book is easy to read with the aid of e-transition success stories and real-time company examples throughout. It definitely helped me gain a more structured understanding of digital markets by categorizing online companies according to their function. In the latter chapters, it touches on the technology needed to support B2B and what to take into consideration when starting or designing a new B2B company. However, I do feel that it lacks the detail I was hoping to find and does have some repetition of concepts. The verdict: This book is more of an introduction to the subject and is a good starting point for anyone new to, or interested in, B2B e-commerce.

Charles Stevens, this is possibly the best B2B book I have ever read. Cunningham provides a clear-cut approach to B2B business. He clearly defines differences and avoids excessive jargon making this book ideal for the experiences business professional or anyone new to the field. It was key in developing the fundamentals and our approaches of our own corporate B2B plan. As sacrilegious as it may be this book has been our B2B Bible. 75% of business - to - business transactions for computers, electronics, and storage are done online. There is a need to develop B2B commerce, improving systems and methods are crucial. People and corporations are hesitant about investing in the Internet because of the current tension in the ecommerce market highlighted by the media. Let it be understood that the failings of high-profile corporations should not be a reflection on the B2B market. Even considering this media-driven pseudo-bear market the estimated revenue from B2B business for 2004 exceeds 3 trillion dollars. Pick up this book, at the very least flip through it at the bookstore (and take notes).

The revised and updated version of B2B (paperback edition) reflects the changes in the market since the first version was published. As the author of the book, I would like to thank both the input from the press, editors, industry analysts and users of B2B technologies for their experiences and knowledge to keep this title current. I hope that others still find this a useful blueprint for the development and delivery of their stategies.

At a first look, this book appears to address all you would like to learn about B2B.
However the actual content behind such interesting titles does not match the expectantions it raised to me: sometime it is very poor, sometime it is very generic or specifically related to a single software provider viewpoint (C1).

It has been a wrong buy for me.

I have been active in eBusiness ranging from large multi-nationals to smaller start-ups and I found this book to hold some great insights and practical advice for navigating both the business and technical issues related to development of a successful online business. Warren Raischs'vision of the value of developing trust networks as well as using the online venues for capturing marketplace knowledge were very useful. It was a good purchase for me.

Over the years, the Peppers and Rogers duo have made an outstanding contribution to the field of marketing and the process of developing relationships with customers. "One to One B2B" is another installment. This well-written book builds on their earlier works and does a great deal to define in a tangible fashion the new "customer relationship mentality" that is so essential for all organziations to consider in today's real economy. The book is thought provoking and stimulating. It is evident the authors who have pioneered the bulk of the original thinking and philosophy underlying customer relationship management want to share their compelling philosophy. They are very convincing in citing the numerous advantages that accrue to those who embrace their approach to winning and retaining customers. And, this book seems to be committed to showing a straightforward, direct blueprint for implementation.

The first chapters constitute a worthwhile review of well established, familiar concepts, but they also offer some different slants that are extremely valuable supplements. The authors, in the spirit of the "learning relationshp", revise and modify to incorporate the most recent developments in the field. The updates and refinements are definitely added value.

The middle five chapters are central to the book's mission. Here the reader experiences very detailed coverage of companies and organizations that have adopted the "one to one" way of doing business. This section of the book provides this detailed description in case study format illustrating the steps of implementation and explaining the benefits associated with each implementation phase. New concepts such as a "customer touch map" are very worthwhile additions to the CRM arsenal. The chapters cover a broad range of case studies including such divers applications as Dell Computer and LifeWay Christian Resources. All of this makes for a very rewarding reading experience.

And, in keeping with their well established literary charcter, Peppers and Rogers have an eye to the future that they share with the reader. For example, they don't shy away from offering advice to Dell on future direction in light of the challenges posed by the current environment. And, they take time to weigh the eventual impact of a B2B world that is rapidly extending its scope, offering assessments from their very informed perspectives.

As an academician who has spent considerable time studying the CRM movement and consulting with companies that embrace the same, this book definitely offers value and is must for anyone that is committed to the idea of cultivating and preserving customer relationships.