e-Business is the latest mantra that enables businesses to become more competitive, save costs, and receive payments instantly. A way of conducting business electronically, leveraging technology initiatives such as e-commerce, electronic data interchange (EDI), and electronic funds transfer (EFT). Electronic storefronts, self-service Web applications, and Web-based supply chain integration are a few examples of new e-business opportunities.

e-Business is either (a) the transaction of business over an electronic medium such as the Internet or (b) any organization (for example, commercial, industrial, nonprofit, educational, or governmental) that transacts its business over an electronic medium such as the Internet. An e-business combines the resources of traditional information systems with the vast reach of an electronic medium such as the Internet (including the World Wide Web, intranets, and extranets); it connects critical business systems directly to critical business constituencies--customers, employees, and suppliers. The key to becoming an e-business is building a transaction-based Web site in which all core business processes (especially all processes that require a dynamic and interactive flow of information) are put online to improve service, cut costs, and sell products.