That was not seen as a problem because, everyone agreed, this was the Internet era, things were going to get done in Internet time, and it wasn't going to take one or two years to finish the project. But these systems required a bigger and bigger IT army to build and run. And months turned into years. Yes, there has been a downturn for technology. But the real problem may be that B2B got too big too fast.
Small successes are the best way to achieve big successes.
Meanwhile, as the Web gold rush fades and the fundamental elements of best IT project practices come back into focus, the B2B pioneers may yet find success.