When they hear the word E-Business, many business operators presume this means E-Commerce. If so, they can be very wrong. As we pointed out earlier, E-Business is the use of electronic channels to improve a business. E-Commerce, on the other hand, is the selling of products or services over the Internet, usually through some “electronic storefront ” model.

Just as a retail outlet is one of many different forms of business, so E-Commerce is one kind of E-Business. Similarly, technology involving computers and modems is not all e-business; it is merely one aspect of it. In this case, it acts as the "construction" materials used to foster E-Business, just as an office might be where regular business is conducted.

Therefore, a company that dismisses E-Business as some kind of online selling fad that faded with the dot-com crash would be making a serious mistake. E-Business has been growing steadily for years despite the spectacular flameouts of a few companies that made the headlines. Predictions vary as to its annual, but it is assumed that it is now near the $1 trillion mark.

E-Business falls into two categories:

• Business-to-business (B2B), trade, which accounts for the bulk (some 70 per cent) of most E-Business
  
  
• Business-to-consumer (B2C), which is much smaller but garners far more attention. This is primarily what people think of when they hear the term “E-Commerce”

Case Study - Process automation: Les cadres Bourgeois Frames