Florida also has its share of low-tech fabrication houses that have served the military for years. Both of these business sectors are struggling to accept, adopt, and alter to meet the new expectations for electronic commerce from the government and training partners. They are prudent business owners, and while they know that they may lose market share if they do not conform, some believe the cost of doing business electronically could be too high for their operations. The Largo ECRC is prepared to show these business sectors the value of electronic commerce evident in reduced cost, enhanced services, and increased business opportunities. Challenges for everyone involved Smaller businesses and prime contractors together face reduced defense budgets, rapid technology changes, and difficulty finding highly trained yet affordable employees, said Manty.
Prime contractors have at least three challenges.
If it is, they will invest and implement. The second challenge is coping with new contract requirements. Most large prime contractors have existing contract requirements that were put in place years back. Until these contracts run out or are changed to require the cost savings of EDI, it is business as usual. The third challenge is encouraging subcontractors to implement electronic commerce.