Business services networks

The fundamental challenge of e-commerce is enabling companies to do business with one another across a network, despite different business processes and computer systems. Traditionally, these problems were overcome through expensive custom point-to-point integration or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) networks. The promise of the Internet, by contrast, is an open e-business platform where companies can do business spontaneously with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Business Services Networks fulfill that vision. This talk introduces the concept of Business Services Networks and their profound business and technology implications for e-commerce. BSNs are Internet business communities where companies collaborate through loosely coupled business services. Participants register business services (e.g., place an order, make a payment) that others can discover and incorporate into their own business processes with a few clicks of a mouse. Companies can build on each other??s services, creating new services and linking them into industry-transforming, network-centric business models. We also discuss evolution of BSNs since early 1990??s, emerging technological underpinnings, and CommerceNet??s role in catalyzing their adoption.