These companies must be in close touch with suppliers, and they need to track customers' buying habits closely. However, they're not connected any further down in the supply chain than their immediate suppliers. This is an extension of the previous stage, but more fully integrated. Such a company has nearly real-time information sharing with its trading community, and it may go one tier beyond its immediate suppliers and customers. Now you have not just one enterprise connected to many suppliers and customers, but many enterprises connected to many others.
Companies are part of a dynamic trading community that's industry-focused.
When an event occurs anywhere in your trading community, you can react nimbly to optimize or avoid its consequences. Formulate your migration path to a virtual network before making solid investments in e-commerce. Make sure your e-commerce strategy is integrated with your business strategy. Consider whether you have adequate resources internally to complete the systems integration work or if you need to seek outside help. However, like so much else, the Internet revolution is radically changing the world of office printing.