Event Summary
TRADEX Technologies, the provider of a digital marketplace platform, and American
Express, the largest corporate card provider, announced that they have partnered
to create the "B2B Commerce Network", a new component-based e-commerce solution
powered by TRADEX's Commerce Center platform.
The
American Express B2B Commerce Network is an open digital marketplace for purchasing
and catalog management that is designed to connect American Express' corporate
customers and suppliers with other horizontal and vertical marketplaces on the
Internet. The B2B Commerce Network will enable companies to enhance the benefits
of their existing procurement applications with online payment tools, supplier
services, content management services and advanced sourcing capabilities.
American
Express selected the TRADEX platform as the foundation of its B2B Commerce Network.
TRADEX enables the customization of the B2B Commerce Network to reflect each
buying organization's purchasing policies and negotiated prices, and provides
flexible commerce transaction processes from requisition through payment. American
Express' B2B Commerce Network also will provide customizable catalogs and content
aggregation tools through ec-Content, Inc. a TRADEX partner.
In
addition to hosting an online corporate travel booking solution, American Express
is working with ten electronic purchasing systems vendors to provide full interoperability
with the Corporate Purchasing Card to streamline payment, reconciliation and
reporting processes. Additionally, American Express has begun testing American
Express @ Work, a business-to-business portal that integrates web-based applications
and content with full-service support to help companies and their employees
streamline activities across the full spectrum of travel and purchasing management.
Market
Impact
This
announcement introduces American Express as a significant contributor to the
business to business market. American Express is the leading provider of commercial
purchasing cards and expense management solutions in the U.S. The B2B Commerce
Network is a further step to extend their Internet product development initiatives
to corporate customers.
According
to Brigette Baumann, general manager at American Express corporate services'
interactive division, "A major focus is to bring our network of business to
business suppliers into the online marketplace in a fraction of the time [of
other offerings] and offer advanced payment mechanisms."
User
Recommendations
This is positive news for organizations planning to engage in electronic business
to business commerce. With American Express's established relationships and
expertise in travel & payment services, this represents a significant addition
to the business to business landscape. Existing B2B solution providers, such
as Ariba, Commerce One and Concur (See TEC News Analysis Articles: "Commerce
One Meets GM: Web Now Has A Really Big Parts Department" November 10th,
1999 and "Ariba
Successes Highlights Standards Wars" August 13th, 1999) have been diligently
creating networks of partners and market places. American Express will challenge
them in the areas of payment services, time to market, content and full service
support.
If
you are considering entry to the Business to Business market place, evaluate
your options. Those organizations that already have an existing relationship
with American Express should immediately investigate this opportunity. Otherwise
continue to watch the relationships between these commerce networks.
We
expect organizations like American Express, Ariba, CommerceOne, and Concur to
focus on areas such as procurement, T&E and self service HR models. Look for
strategic partnerships to bolster their offerings in areas where they may not
be as strong (IE: back office integration, or content management).
Inevitably,
as the digital market places grow, suppliers will participate in multiple markets
and consumers will expect access. This will force these vendors to add feature
and support rich services to their mix of offerings.