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Rating: 
Summary: Not a B2B book at all
Review: It is very hard to find valuable B2B literature around. Because of media hype and market valuations it seems (until last year) everything written in eCommerce was about B2C models. However, times have changed and now we are looking more into B2B as the saviour model of eCommerce. I bought this book convinced it was a B2B book but it isn't. At least 50% of the chapters and 50% of the "examples" shown correspond clearly to a B2C text. Maybe the worst part is that they are so mixed you start to loose focus on what you wanted to read the book in the first place ! It is a nice "general eCommerce book" but will never be a classic on B2B. If you want insights on B2B look elsewhere....
Rating: 
Summary: Practical, Comprehensive, and Lucid
Review: This can be an invaluable book for any company which is determined to cash in on what the subtitle refers to as "the business-to-business e-commerce bonanza." (I found it interesting to note that the same principles which O'Connell advocates are also relevant to B2B2C.) In the Introduction, he asks "So who are the new power brokers in the corporate e-commerce market? How are they using online business-to-business applications to turn their annual ledgers from red to black? What do their award-winning Web sites look like? And what's in store for the commercial online industry in years to come?" To answer these basic (and imperative) questions, O'Connell draws upon a wealth of information which includes new ideas germinating in small cubicles, and on corporate drawing boards nationwide, feedback from online discount suppliers and dozens of online experts, revelations within real-life case studies, and what he calls "infoboxes, sidebars, and colorful industry profiles." Lots of good stuff. In the final chapter, O'Connell shares some especially interesting forecasts. For example: • According to the Gartner Group, in the run up to 2003, almost 75% of European companies will under budget e-business transformation costs. • According to Forrester Research, one-third of all Europeans will use the Net via mobile phones in 2004. • According to a research study conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1999, 67% of Asian CEOs stated that they believe that e-business will have a significant impact on competition in their industries, while 47% stated they believe financial services will be the sector most significantly impacted by the Internet in the next two years. This book will be especially valuable to small-to-midsize companies with relatively limited resources. O'Connell suggests all manner of strategies and tactics to assist them when setting up (or improving) an e-business Web site; where to locate and what to learn from the hottest B2B sites; how to market e-business; and how to use e-business to create value-added benefits for suppliers, partners, customers, employees, etc. If any of this is of immediate and urgent importance to you and to your own company, obtain and read a copy ASAP. Better yet, have the other key people in your organization also read it, then conduct an off-site 2-3 day workshop with the book setting the agenda for group discussion. By the workshop's conclusion, the group should have formulated a game plan which must then be implemented with passion as well as precision. Good luck!
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