Allowing trading partners to perform or participate in specific business functions is the other half. Obviously, this will require new levels of security, and the ability to screen information based on a user's role in the business relationship is highly important. Whether they are performed by personnel or by applications, business operations must be accessible only by authorized and authenticated trading partners. In this regard, collaborative applications must reside in a secure environment and be based on a central, standards-based architecture. And they must offer access to certain types of users within and external to your enterprise.
Collaborative applications can address most key business processes in an enterprise.