What is eBusiness?

The term eBusiness was first used by IBM ® on October 7th, 1997, in an eight-page e-Business manifesto inserted in the Wall Street Journal, demonstrating the value of the e-business vision and explaining how corporate systems would radically change during the digital era ahead. 

What’s an e-business? IBM TV Ad designed by Ogilvy & Mather, 1997

IBM spent some US$500 million on a massive marketing and thematic advertising campaign built around the term e-business. Ogilvy & Mather was the ad agency behind the successful series of black-and-white commercials that showed how the Internet could add value and how companies can do real business on the web with IBM solutions.

The internet is the future of business. Hype! IBM TV Ad designed by Ogilvy & Mather, 1997 

Remember at the time in 1993, Mosaic just released the first browser to display both text and images on a single page, and one year later, Amazon was launched. Although email, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and the concept of eBusiness had all existed for many years before 1997, people's mindset was still around browser wars, banner ads and new retail eCommerce websites. IBM revealed this reality in one of its commercials by showing a Web designer trying to impress a client with spinning and firing logos. In contrast, the client wishes to address his business needs by putting his whole supply chain online.

Killer App! IBM TV Ad designed by Ogilvy & Mather, 1997 

The campaign was a huge success and changed people's perception of how e-business ran a company’s infrastructure even at the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) level. EDIs and private networks cost too much with limited benefits. The number of companies using these IT systems was relatively low, and their IT systems were not compatible with their business partners. The Internet made e-business available on a large scale for smaller enterprises. Therefore, IBM Defined the term e-business to transform key business processes using Internet technologies.

Definition of e-Business by IBM and the original red “e” logo resembling an @ sign designed by Ogilvy & Mather, 1997.

eBusiness definition was expanded to cover both inter-organizational business activities and customer-related perspectives.

E-business is defined as the use of electronic means to conduct an organization’s business internally and/or externally.

TAWFIK JELASSI & ALBRECHT ENDERS (2004), STRATEGIES FOR E-BUSINESS: CREATING VALUE THROUGH ELECTRONIC AND MOBILE COMMERCE

Later on, eBusiness definition got a more information-centric approach:

All electronically mediated information exchanges, both within an organization and with external stakeholders supporting the range of business processes. 

DAVE CHAFFEY (2009), DIGITAL BUSINESS AND E-COMMERCE MANAGEMENT