E-Business in the Era of Digital Transformation

In recent years, the development of information technology has reached a new level of evolution. It should be noted, however, that digitalization and digital transformation are not fundamentally new phenomena. A phase marked by strong digitalization, for example, was the result of the increased business use of the Internet in the early 1990s. The era of e-business began. The focus was on the digitalization of cross-company processes, which also brought new business models and interlinked value-added structures. Against the background of current developments, the question arises as to what role e-business now plays in digital transformation. The aim of this chapter is to show the current developments in e-business and their relationship to digital transformation. Following an introductory clarification of concepts and a consideration of the importance of mobile computing, the classic areas of e-business are addressed, in particular e-commerce, e-procurement and e-organization. The results show that e-business has always involved digital transformation processes and that these three perspectives of e-business are still helpful in analyzing the effects of digital transformation and identifying digitalization potential in and between companies. Besides information technology itself, the concepts of e-business become an important driver of digital transformation.