B2B Exchanges: The Killer Application in the Business-to-business Internet Revolution (Hardcover)

This book reads as a chapter of the authors' business plan for the "new" Bermuda SE dealing with its commercial and competitive environment. The introductory chapters present a clear and easy to understand analysis of key B2B economic drivers accompanied by appropriate examples. The second half of the book then goes into a more detailed analysis of each of those key success factors. The final part of the book sets out the key features of the main B2B exchanges then active in (mainly) the US market.

The authors rely extensively on what readers can presume to be a VC's prime sources of information; consultant reports (in particular, Forrester and IDC) and interviews with the quoted B2B exchanges. Some relevant information sources (and their URLs, thank you authors) are quoted in the appendix to the book. The authors' backgrounds has led the book to have a bias towards commercial and, to a lesser extent, legal matters affecting B2Bs. The book lacks, however, a more complete analysis of the factors involved in starting a new B2B venture e.g. which exchanges have used which software providers for running auctions, how have legacy systems typically been dealt with by the exchange and its participants, what is the use and value of proprietary software and how can they provide leverage, what jurisdictions other than Bermuda are suitable for setting up an exchange, implementation timelines and sequencing, data mining opportunities and CRM issues, etc.

The book also suffers from what I found to be a faulty layout. Text is eclectically printed in bold and key chapter findings (typically in bold) are nearly textually reprinted (again in bold) in the concluding "Chapter Summary". This impedes on the legibility and flow of the book. Readers can easily skip these irritating passages. The appendix containing the summary description of the existing B2Bs accounts for approximately 20% of the book's volume (couldn't this have been printed in smaller font?) whilst the authors also seem to use graphics for graphics' sake - unclear or redundant messages presented in a host of inconsistent formats.

Lastly, the authors invite their readers to consult the updates of their analysis in a dedicated website. I experienced (Mar 2000) this website to be devoid of any updates and an undisguised attempt by the authors to build a database of (potentially competing) B2B initiatives. It is unclear what value the readers will get from this.

All in all, I found this book to be a useful introduction to key B2B features but lacking in depth and breadth to be truly useful for executives which need to draft or review a B2B strategy. The former comment and the faulty format of this book do not justify its purchase/price, but the current second hand copies make it good value.