E-Commerce: More than half of U.S. companies want to be all-virtual
By Manufacturing Business Technology Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 4/2/2008 11:47:00 AM
An increasingly large number of American companies are considering taking their business completely virtual in five years. A survey of C-level executives at U.S. companies reveals that more than half of these executives (53.4 percent) said they want to shift to a completely virtual company in the next five years.
Moreover, 80.8 percent of the executives said they were familiar with the advantages of e-commerce, and 30.1 percent said that if their business could afford the cost, they would be ready to go virtual right now.
The survey was conducted between February 27th and March 18th, 2008 by TIE Commerce Inc., a leading provider of Business-to-Business eCommerce software, and The Mishra Group, a Waltham, Mass.-based marketing and public relations firm.
“The survey results did not come as surprise to us because we have already seen a great demand for e-commerce in recent years,” said Brian Tervo, president and CEO of TIE Commerce. “In today's global economy, it is becoming increasingly important for everyone to stay connected with their enterprise partners. What surprised us the most was the overwhelming number of executives who wanted to go completely virtual in next five years. Given the major advancements in electronic business collaboration, it is now possible for your internal operations, processes, and applications to remain current and connected with your external trading partners. With each passing day, up-to-date, accurate company, customer and vendor information plays a greater role in the way you conduct business. Consumers demand instant results, and with a dedicated electronic framework, your business can boost sales, improve supply chain integration and exceed customers' expectations.”
The survey also found that 83.6 percent of respondents cite their comfort level with technology as being a major factor in their willingness to go to a completely virtual business. According to TIE Commerce, major advancements in technologies such as Software as a Service (SaaS) alleviate the pressure of in-house software management, in turn making the transition to virtual business that much more obtainable.
“In this day and age, Software as a Service can liberate a company, allowing them to focus on their business and not on their virtual infrastructure,” Tervo said. “Taking your business virtual has become infinitely easier with SaaS, as it allows providers to remotely manage and configure all of the technical aspects of running your business virtually, allowing you to focus on taking care of your critical business needs.”
