Online Hosting Services Free Bus. Investing Internet Technology Windows Internet Tech. You almost can't read over the shoulder of the person commuting next to you or in line for coffee ahead of you without coming across predictions for the wild growth of B2B exchanges. These marketplaces are going to revolutionize the way businesses buy, sell, and interact with other businesses. Poppycock, I say.
Business is about relationships, pure and simple.
The B2B marketplaces that succeed will be those that allow businesses to automate the parts of their interactions with other businesses that make sense to automate. Right now, many exchanges are stagnating. They don't want to waste time and money integrating with a loser. The problem with many exchanges is that they've rushed to facilitate a type of commerce that simply isn't taking place. Few businesses are all fired up about working with strange, unproven new business partners, especially not with new suppliers.