ELECTRONIC COMMERCE UPDATE

November/December € 1996

Is the Web the Way to Go?

With all the attention it's been getting over the past two years from the news media and both large and small corporations, not to mention the government, one could easily believe that the World Wide Web will solidify itself as the primary means of business communication in the near future. But as increasing numbers of users become familiar with the advantages of the Web as well as its shortcomings, the Web-enabled EC naysayers are now getting their turn in the spotlight.

One of the most vocal opponents of the Web as a means for Internet commerce is Safawat Fahmi, the chairman and chief technology officer of WIZnet (Delray Beach, Fla.; www.wiznet.net), who contends that although the Web may be fine for entertainment and marketing, it leaves much to be desired in delivering business-to-business applications. Fahmi so earnestly believes that the Web is not robust enough for the electronic commerce applications needed by business, that he decided not to use the Web to deliver his EC-Product Register to customers, but rather opted for client/server software transport via the Internet.

To illustrate his point of electronic commerce advantage through client/server based operations as opposed to the Web, Fahmi notes that he is able to deliver suppliers' catalogs to his subscribers without modifying their content or design. If Fahmi were to put this same information on the Web, he would have to code everything into HTML, thus forcing him to alter the original content and design of the catalogs. And with more than 3,000 catalogs being added to his site each month, it would be difficult for him to justify transferring this amount of data to the Web on a regular basis.

Despite Fahmi's apparently rational stand on this issue, conventional wisdom remains firmly pointed toward Web-based electronic commerce.

One of the more important occurrences underlying this direction is the continuing push for Web EC file sharing protocols by some of the biggest names in the business: Microsoft (Redmond, Wash.; www.microsoft.com) and SunSoft (Mountain View, Calif.; www.sun.com/sunsoft). These two companies are engaged in a heated battle over whose protocol will be adopted as the Internet standard for Web file sharing.

Microsoft is betting on the backing of some major players, including DEC and Intel, to push acceptance of its Common Internet File System (see Electronic Commerce Update, July/August 1996, p. iv). In the meantime, SunSoft is continuing to deploy its WebNFS protocol for Internet and intranet file sharing. SunSoft will integrate WebNFS into the HotJava browser and a Java client. The integration of WebNFS into the HotJava browser will permit the protocol to be used on any operating system that supports Java.

Currently, the tide of public opinion appears to be leaning in favor of WebNFS, but Microsoft's marketshare resources could well change the direction of this tide in favor of CIFS.
Yet another set of applications leading the push for Web-based EC has appeared on the manufacturing front -- an area that is currently providing the foundation for Internet-based commerce (see Electronic Commerce Update, September/October 1996, p. ii). Symix Systems Inc. (Columbus, Ohio; www.symix.com) is developing a series of Web/Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions that permit manufacturers to offer users with Web browsers a secured window into the manufacturer's supply chain information.

With the issue of standardized protocols and methods of delivery now coming to a head, the first major usage crossroads for electronic commerce are being approached at a breakneck speed. On the other side of these crossroads lie the answers to what platform and applications users will choose en masse to provide for the future of electronic commerce.

Will it progress much like the PC operating platform decision during the mid-80s, leading IBM-backed DOS computers ahead of the pack, based primarily on CEOs' fears of unknown quantities in a new and rapidly changing industry, or will users be more savvy this time around and choose a platform that is easier to use and operate, while providing all the necessary functionality, regardless of who is behind it?

The editors at Electronic Commerce Update will be watching these developments closely and will keep you informed of which way the wind appears to be blowing.

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