Get Ready for the World of B2B (2001)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * SINCE NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHEN B2B exchanges will get their act together, now is a good time for CPAs to help their employers and clients take stock of their internal systems capabilities, the quality and quantity of their technical support staff and the technological literacy of their workforce. Without that, companies will not be ready to benefit from B2B. * B2B EXCHANGES HAVE NOT DELIVERED the cost savings and expanded markets they've promised their customers, but that doesn't mean they ultimately won't. Emphasize to your client or employer that making gradual adjustments now is preferable to rushing through extensive changes in the future. * UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY often is more a matter of attitude than of complex abstractions. Ongoing technical education helps keep workers aware of what technology can offer them, as well as how to use it. * SOME COMPANIES THAT DIDN'T GET WHAT THEY WANTED from B2B exchanges are at least partly to blame for not committing themselves to make the internal technological and cultural changes necessary to collaborate with external parties online. * TAKING SHORTCUTS WITH TECHNOLOGY can be dangerous if a device or system is used in a way the designer didn't intend. * ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN A POSITIVE COMPANY ATTITUDE toward the use of technology and give employees regular opportunities to share their views on what works, what doesn't and why. CPAs still have time to help clients and employers enhance their technology in preparation for the growth of business-to-business exchanges. word is out--the short-term prospect for cost savings and expanded markets from B2B exchanges is grim, overshadowed by a suddenly gloomy economy. At least that's what some pundits would have you believe. Other observers, however, are more sanguine, believing good times are just ahead for B2B exchanges--the online marketplaces that seek to bring manufacturers, service providers and their customers together in maximum-efficiency virtual trading environments (See The B-to-B Virtual Bazaar, JofA, July00, page 26; www.aicpa. org/pubs/jofa/jul2000/banham. htm). No one knows when the B2B tide will turn. But regardless of how long it takes for exchanges to begin delivering real value to customers, technologically savvy CPAs stand to profit. [GRAPH OMITTED] That's because of what they can do--during the current B2B shakeout--for the companies they advise on technology matters. While the surviving B2B exchanges regroup, organizations that develop the skills and infrastructure necessary to do business online will earn immediate dividends in the form of increased productivity, better interdepartmental coordination and more flexibility in dealing with external entities, including business partners. And that can only translate into a competitive advantage. Any CPA employed by, or having as a client, a company with systems that don't communicate with each other, limited technology staff or a technologically illiterate workforce should take the time to perform a thorough needs assessment and address any such shortcomings swiftly and decisively. COVERING THE BASICS CPAs guiding their clients or employers toward greater and more effective use of technology should emphasize the importance of careful and thorough planning. Since the CPA understands the organization's business objectives and financial capabilities, he or she can help identify any new technologies it may require and which of them it can afford. But first, the CPA must help management determine whether new technology really is ,necessary and how it will interact with any existing systems. following checklist explains how to accomplish that and points out other ways the CPA can help a company improve its use of technology. * CPA can guide management through a needs assessment of its technology infrastructure (hardware, software and technology services, such as communications lines) and its workforce's technological skills. …