10. Where should I start on
introducing B2B in my organisation?
1. Analyse, understand
and document your buying and selling processes
- Some organisations may already have some or most
of this information as a result of a certification
scheme or business audit, others may not. Use some
form of online project or process management tool
so contributions could be added, reviewed and modified
via a project site.
The objective is to catalogue
and prioritise processes in terms of value, cost
and complexity so any initiatives in additional
and new systems can be justified and benchmarked
against the original system as a return on investment.
The current
or prospective users have the most insight into
what issues exist in any current system …
and can best suggest process improvements and new
ideas for any proposed online B2B system.
2. Interview & Survey
your current and potential system users -
Use the process documentation to conduct customer,
supplier and employee surveys. Facilitate some form
of user group ‘brainstorming’ or workshops.
Ensure a sample cross-section of users (new and
established partners, those placing large and small
orders, etc.)
3. Develop a ‘proof
of concept’ prototype based on the results
of steps 1 and 2. With the right development
tools and a current database ‘snapshot’
a working component can normally be deployed in
a few weeks. Check gains in productivity via some
follow-up interviews and usability studies with
those involved in the surveys to validate the prototype
is broadly delivering the financial and user satisfaction
benefits predicted.
4.You may wish to involve
other business partners at this stage based
on the savings and satisfaction results obtained
in the prototype. The partners may be customers,
suppliers or other businesses operating in your
‘space’ that might be able to share
the investment and increase the
collective rewards.
5. The bottom
line - commit to long-term development of B2B systems.
Based on your analysis of the value and importance
of each business function, features can be introduced
in a controlled and measured way.
