eBusiness Has a Future -- But It's Not Yet a Priority.

• Author: Roth, Richard T.
• Position: Brief Article

A recent Internet search told at I already knew: eBusiness is on the minds of business professionals everywhere. Story after story addressed the potential of eBusiness applications and their eventual impact on how we approach the entire management chain, with seemingly everyone having an opinion about what the new eBusiness world will look like. However, a reality check is in order.

EBusiness is going to affect the entire enterprise, but a recent study by Hackett Benchmarking & Research illustrates that for finance, the current impact is more illusory than real. One theme is consistent: Companies understand that eBusiness will eventually be a priority, but it has yet to reach the forefront. For instance, 93 percent of companies surveyed predict changes in their business strategies. Nearly 70 percent project eBusiness investments to increase significantly within two years, and a similar number see it dramatically altering boundaries between both internal functions and supply-chain participants.

However, the same study shows that actual e-commerce implementation and utilization remain very low, especially within the finance function. Current spending initiatives account for less than 1 percent of revenue and while most companies see that number increasing substantially in the coming years, survey participants don't predict making truly meaningful investments anytime soon.

Mirroring this, the electronic transmission of transaction and sales volumes are expected to rise in the next two years, but not markedly. Only in the electronic transmission of forecasts do we see projected increases that substantiate the current eBusiness hype. About 25 percent of quarterly and annual forecasts are now transmitted electronically, and that figure is expected to rise rapidly.

Companies are also not moving quickly enough to take advantage of the Internet for reporting -- a step that would make internal and external reports available to everybody at the same time. Ninety-five percent of the companies surveyed put less than half of their financial reports on the Internet, and nearly three-fourths post less than 25 percent of their reports online. On top of this, fewer than half send external reports via the Internet, and a paltry 18 percent process tax returns electronically to a significant degree.

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