Click here to listen to Hollis Bischoff and Fadi Chehadé’s recent Webinar on developing networked business ecosystems. http://www.ebizq.net/webinars/5224.html

In today’s business environment, where the pressure is on to provide accuracy and flexibility to partners, while at the same time reducing costs, those who learn how to properly exchange information gain considerable power, said Hollis Bischoff, vice president of the META Group, in a recent ebizQ Webinar. She said the only way this can be done is by improving processes both internally and externally. Bischoff was joined at the Webinar by Fadi Chehadé, founder of RosettaNet and current chairman and CEO of Viacore, Inc. The Webinar was entitled, “Integrated Business Ecosystem: The Key to Margin Advantage.” Click here to listen to the Webinar: http://www.ebizq.net/webinars/5224.html

To set the stage for why an integrated business ecosystem is needed, Bischoff said that it is absolutely necessary to understand the importance of how to share data, how to manage expectations, and how to understand today’s business environment in comparison to how it used to be, even as recently as two years ago.

Information sharing is important, and it is essential for businesses to be “opening up and sharing, but not indiscriminately,” Bischoff said. One has to be alert about with whom to share information, which information should be shared, and how to go about it, she said.

Another thing to consider is the nature of our business environment. “The Internet is always on. Our enterprise can do business with another enterprise 24/7. The walls of the enterprise continue to move out: There is outsourcing, more and more partnerships and organizations reaching out to one another. Companies are outsourcing things that are not attached to their core competencies, so the bottom line is flexibility,” Bischoff said.

“Today’s business environment is not just about making the sale, but about making deep and lasting partnerships by networking with our partners,” she said. “We don’t want the technology to become a barrier to transactions. Rather, we want to be networked with our partners to work in a complementary manner, because when we have more partners, we also end up producing more,” she said. Building trust with partners increases transactions back and forth beyond the typical portal or phone.