Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the electronic exchange of business information—purchase orders, invoices, bills of lading, inventory data and various types of confirmations—between organizations or trading partners in standardized formats. EDI also is used within individual organizations to transfer data between different divisions or departments, including finance, purchasing …
Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) is the largest information systems and business process services firm in the United States. Second only to IBM Corp. in the worldwide systems consulting market, EDS offers network operations, systems integration, data center administration, applications development, and management consulting. In the late 1990s, at the prompting of new CEO Dick Brown, EDS began o…
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a non-profit organization that advocates the creation of legal and structural approaches in the computer and communications arenas in order to protect civil liberties such as privacy and freedom of expression. The foundation's goal is to advise policymakers and foster public understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed in the ever-chang…
Electronic filing of taxes enables professional tax preparers and most taxpayers to submit tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and some state agencies via computer modem. Taxpayers have various options for filing their taxes electronically. They can use special tax software to prepare their returns, and then transmit the completed forms electronically to an authorized intermediary wh…
In the world of e-commerce, electronic payment most commonly refers to the use of a credit or debit card by a consumer to purchase a product or service online. For online merchants to accept credit or debit card numbers as payment, they must use online credit card processing technology that processes payments via online platforms such as the World Wide Web. To alleviate consumer concerns regarding…
Founded in 1994, the Washington-based, nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) serves as a clearinghouse to disseminate information concerning the protection of Internet users' privacy. Its founder and executive director, Marc Rotenburg, created the organization to address perceived Internet privacy violations committed by both the government and businesses that operate Web s…
Electronic publishing is much like traditional publishing, the main difference being the medium by which an author's work is delivered to readers. In place of the print sources typically used with traditional publishing, electronic publishing uses an online medium, most often the Internet, to present works to readers. In some cases, electronic publications—such as books, magazines, n…
Lawrence J. (Larry) Ellison is founder and CEO of Oracle Corp., one of the world's largest software companies. Serving as CEO since the firm's inception in 1977, Ellison steered its initial growth as a database software maker and its eventual move into e-commerce in the late 1990s. The recipient of Harvard Business School's Entrepreneur of the Year award, Ellison is considered…
Electronic messages sent over a network are known as e-mail. Users may send messages to a single recipient or to a group of several recipients anywhere in the world. In many cases, messages are transmitted along high-speed data communications networks in a matter of seconds or minutes. Once a message is received, a user may view it, save it, delete it, or forward it on to other recipients. E-mail …
The term e-mail marketing covers a wide range of e-mail used to deliver commercial messages. It includes e-mail newsletters that deliver news, information, or content that people have specifically requested. These newsletters typically contain advertising messages targeted to the interests of the newsletters' readers. At the other end of the e-mail marketing spectrum is unsolicited bulk e-m…
Los Angeles, California-based En Pointe Technologies Inc. resells computers and related equipment manufactured by the industry's leading players, including IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Compaq Computer Corp. The firm's electronic catalog, known as Access Pointe, lists more than 700,000 items, including information regarding cost and availability, allowing En Pointe customers to…
The Internet is an open and interconnected system that is both a boon and a hazard to businesses and consumers. On one hand, it makes the act of shopping, comparing, and purchasing extraordinarily quick and convenient. On the other hand, with so many people able to access information and potentially misuse it, there are justified fears of transferring sensitive information, such as credit card num…
Enterprise application integration (EAI) is the process of allowing two or more enterprise systems to operate as one. Most EAI offerings include software, hardware, and services. Typically, EAI systems are used to integrate incompatible systems—such as an older system in which a major investment has already been made, commonly referred to as a legacy system, and a newer application, such as…
Relied upon by more than 90 percent of Fortune 100 companies, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate accounting, human resources distribution, manufacturing, and other back-end process-es—those that do not directly involve customers—for businesses of all sizes. In recent years, they have also evolved to include front-end processes—those that involve customers…
As the number of businesses adopting e-business strategies continued rising into the new millennium, technology firms began offering a host of hardware and software options designed to meet enterprise needs. These offerings, enterprise servers among them, were developed to give companies a competitive edge by providing high performance infrastructures, as well as control over growing networks and …
Procurement is the process whereby companies purchase goods and services from various suppliers. These include everything from indirect goods like light bulbs, uniforms, toilet paper, and office supplies, to the direct goods used for manufacturing products. Procurement also involves the purchase of temporary labor, energy, vehicle leases, and more. Companies negotiate discount contracts for some g…
Electronic retailing, or e-tailing, refers to the practice of selling goods and services over an electronic medium like the Internet. Many traditional brick-and-mortar firms like Toys 'R' Us and Barnes and Noble also sell their wares via Web sites. Other companies, such as Amazon.com, rely solely on the Web to conduct business. While books, CDs, and computer software and hardware are…
eToys was established in 1997 to provide a simplified shopping experience for toys and other children's merchandise—one that would eliminate annoyances like the long lines and loud kids found in typical toy stores. At eToys shoppers would not have to contend with packed parking lots and lack of sales support. The company's Web site, eToys.com, launched in October 1997 and let …
E*Trade Group Inc. provides a range of online personal and institutional financial services through its wholly-owned subsidiaries. Access to the company's offerings can be found at its primary Web site, which offers links to investment options, financial services, discussion groups, live events, and more. The company's principal subsidiaries include E*Trade Securities Inc., which pro…
In October 1995, the European Commission issued a parliamentary directive on data protection (Directive 95/46/EC) that contained comprehensive guidelines for safeguarding the privacy of Internet issues. The guidelines addressed the collection, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of personal data that could be gathered and transferred over the Web. The directive is aimed at the European Union (EU…
Nancy Evans is co-founder and editor-in-chief of iVillage Inc., one of the Web's largest content sites and the leading online service for women. Visitors to the site total more than 5 million each month. iVillage targets women between the ages of 25 and 54 with 18 different channels: Astrology, Babies, Beauty, Books, Computing, Diet & Fitness, Food, Games, Health, Home & Garde…
Excite@Home was formed in January 1999 when high-speed Internet access provider @Home acquired the Excite Network for $6.7 billion. At the time Excite had 20 million registered users for its Internet portal and search engine services. @Home had 330,000 subscribers signed up for its high-speed Internet access service. @Home also had cable distribution agreements in place reaching 60 million homes. …
Exodus Communications Inc. was founded in 1994 by K.B. Chandrasekhar and B.V. Jagadeesh. Just six years later, with annual sales reaching $818 million, Exodus had secured the leading position among Internet hosting and network management firms. The company serves more than 4,500 customers and provides Internet Data Center (IDC) facilities in North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region that …
E-zines are magazines published electronically, most often on the World Wide Web. The terms e-zine and Web zine typically refer to the same thing. Initially, a "zine" referred to a niche magazine targeting a small, unique market. However, as the number of mainstream publications that made their way to the Web grew throughout the late 1990s, the term e-zine grew to encompass both nich…
FairMarket Inc. is a provider of e-business selling and marketing solutions through dynamic pricing. Its customers include retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, and its offerings include automatic mark-down, auction, fixed-price, and merchandising tools. The company's main service offering, FairMarket Network, includes the development, hosting, and maintenance of private-label online …
