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`B2B players must think global'

Our Bureau

BANGALORE, Sept. 13

GLOBAL aspect is important for B2B e-commerce to succeed in India, as increasing number of buyers are located outside the national boundaries, according to Mr Eric Meier-Ruegg, Vice-President, Emerging Markets, Commerce One.

He was delivering the keynote address at NeTRANSAC 2000, a seminar on Digital Market Place, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Linkages with global B2B community is essential as buyers are looking for suppliers in India which are `open for business' 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, he said.

``Participating in the Global Trading Web will make this possible,'' he added.

The digital marketplaces will allow for global and dynamic trade which leads to economic growth and collaboration between the buyers and suppliers.

B2B e-commerce is all about standards and it has arrived in India, which is a key player in the information technology sector, he said.

Mr Eric Meier-Ruegg asked the Indian players to be fast in getting hooked on to the Web by creating marketplaces, but cautioned them not to do it alone and think global.

E-commerce has evolved from just being point-to-point to complex business process where factors such as collaboration, forecasting and supply chain management play a major role.

Marketplaces need to be open, to anyone's software as on-ramp and support companies of all sizes. They need to operate in a real-time and interactive environment and provide access to a myraid of services and linkages to other market places, he said.

Mr. Wipro Chairman, Mr Azim Premji, said that the advent of digital marketplace was the greatest creation of the Internet in the B2B area.

Collaboration will be the keyword in the era of digital marketplaces and collaboration with all entities within a business via Internet will throw up a new generation of virtual chains.

These would integrate demand and supply chains, tightly coupled with the help of technology. These virtual chains will have the ability to reach new levels of efficiencies, discover new market alternatives and cause significant market shifts, he added.

The reduction of intermediaries and reduction in cost can make us not only globally competitive, but also help the producer reach the end customer without the numerous middlemen.

This is a significant opportunity for transforming not only the business but also the social and economic landscape of the nation, Mr Premji said.