No matter what your company sells or to whom it sells, where it sells or how long it has been established, your company is impacted by eBusiness. Why? eBusiness has either already affected, or will soon affect, virtually every business market on earth. eBusiness alters market dynamics, breaks down competitive barriers, changes business models, and enables tiny, new competitors to challenge long-established players.
The value of transactions processed by eBusiness is growing fast. In 1999, business-to-business (B2B) eBusiness transactions exceeded $150 billion in value, and by 2003 will easily reach into the trillions of dollars. Business-to-consumer (B2C) eBusiness, although less than B2B in terms of transaction value, is growing nearly as fast.
Though the growth of eBusiness is one reason to care about eBusiness, ultimately the main reason to care about eBusiness is its impact on market dynamics. The decisions you and your competitors make about how to transact business online will have a great influence not only on the profitability of your business, but also on its durability. To care about eBusiness today is to survive.
In this module, you will learn why eBusiness is so central to today's economy and how it got that way. By the end of the module, you should be able to perform the following tasks:

1. Describe the market trends and drivers that make eBusiness a compelling business solution
2. Trace the history of eBusiness
3. Chart the directions in which eBusiness is going and how it will likely change
4. Discuss the technological tools available for building eBusiness architectures and solutions
5. Define the basic challenges common to eBusiness solutions
6. Describe why standards are a principal concern in eBusiness practices

The next lesson is about the business necessities and opportunities of becoming an eBusiness.