Hamilton--Are We Ready for E-Commerce?

First of all, let me be clear: I think these guys are on the right track—far more so than the "e-tailers" who think they are going to crush the "bricks-and-mortar" folks like an ant. Business-to-business supply chain management is ripe for the picking, even if it's not new.

Remember EDI, which stands for electronic data interchange? EDI never took off because the supporting infrastructure wasn't there, and the proprietary nature of accounting systems made it all but impossible for anyone other than the largest firms to link up with their major suppliers to perform transactions.