After the hype: The emerging landscape of B2B exchanges

Early hype about B2B exchanges' potential to revolutionize buyer/seller relationships is now giving way to a much more sober assessment. According to industry sources, only 23% of the hundreds of B2B marketplaces which have been announced have conducted their first trade. Different types of exchange are emerging with different specialist offerings. There is no single best way forward. As a result, companies cannot sit back and wait for consolidation to simplify their choices as to which exchanges to work with. Successful companies will skilfully orchestrate a multiple-channel environment -- private exchanges to enable tailored processes and give competitive advantage; consortium exchanges to multiply standard processes and have wide reach; integrated exchanges to offer seamless processes; and meta-markets to give access to a multitude of exchanges. Companies will also need better ways to judge the strengths and weaknesses of different exchanges; to find out how exchanges can be seamlessly connected; how networks are best governed; and how companies can generate competitive advantage when they share exchange infrastructures with their competitors.