The market's evolution is one matter. Each company will also undergo an internal evolutionary process as it enters the world of e-business. Burk summed up the four-stage evolution as follows. A company has a static Web site and uses EDI or other programs initiated by trading partners that have limited integration to core business systems. They are promoted to trading partners.
Programs reflect the reality of trading-partner groups.
It is used to create new business models. There will have to be a winnowing out at some point, but we've just begun to see the entrants. Interoperability is another concern. At present, different operating platforms in the oil industry, such as Windows NT and UNIX, are incompatible, limiting the ability of the industry to share information and cross-communicate. A number of companies, including Microsoft, PricewaterhouseCoopers, SAP A.G., Landmark, and GeoQuest, have formed a nonprofit group called COM for Energy to address these barriers and develop a common means by which all companies can communicate.