B2B

On the Internet, B2B is the exchange of products, services, or information between businesses.

B2B systems can be sorted into:

• Company web sites, since the target audience for many company web sites is other companies and their employees. Some company web sites sell directly from the site, effectively e-tailing to other businesses.
• Product supply and procurement exchanges, where a company purchasing agent can shop for supplies from vendors, request proposals, and, in some cases, bid to make a purchase at a desired price. Sometimes referred to as e-procurement sites, some serve a range of industries and others focus on a niche market.
  
• Specialized or vertical industry portals which provide product listings, discussion groups, and other features. These vertical portal sites have a broader purpose than the procurement sites.
  
• Brokering sites that act as an intermediary between someone wanting a product or service and potential providers.
  
• Information sites, which provide information about a particular industry for its companies and their employees. These include specialized search sites and trade and industry standards organization sites.

B2C

B2C is short for business-to-consumer, or the retailing part of e-commerce on the Internet.

Marketplace, B2B or B2C

A marketplace can be either B2B or B2C. What differences an e-commerce web site and a marketplace is that the marketplace includes more than one vendor, who can possibly compete with each other on the same marketplace.

Content management system

A content management system is a system used to manage the content of a web site. The content manager or author can manage the creation, modification, and removal of content from a web site without needing the expertise of a Webmaster. The system automatically updates the web site according to that information.

Supply chain management system

Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Supply chain management involves coordinating and integrating these flows both within and among companies. It is said that the ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management system is to reduce inventory (with the assumption that products are available when needed).

Customer relationship management system

CRM (customer relationship management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth.

Portal

Portal is a term for a web site that is a major starting site for users when they get connected to the Web. There are general portals and specialized or niche portals. Some major general portals include Yahoo, Excite, Lycos and CNET. Examples of niche portals include Garden.com (for gardeners) and Fool.com (for investors).

Web enabling of existing application

Sometimes a brand new web application is not necessary, and all that is needed is to enable an existing IT application for the Web. This essentially includes the addition of a web interface and a system to communicate with the back-end of the existing application.

e-Procurement

E-procurement is the business-to-business purchase and sale of supplies and services over the Internet. Typically, e-procurement Web sites allow qualified and registered users to look for buyers or sellers of goods and services. Depending on the approach, buyers or sellers may specify prices or invite bids. Ongoing purchases may qualify customers for volume discounts or special offers.

Intranet

An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.

Extranet

An extranet is a private network that uses the Internet protocol to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, partners, customers. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company.

e-Government

On the Internet, B2G is business-to-government, the concept that businesses and government agencies can use central Web sites to exchange information and do business with each other more efficiently than they usually can off the Web. For example, a Web site offering B2G services could provide businesses with a single place to locate applications and tax forms for one or more levels of government.