Well, the dot-com bubble has burst, and it looks like the remains will be splattered around for quite a while before the cleanup is finished. That may give many technology executives a breather from the relentless pressure from the business side to get on the Web and develop an e-strategy. Thinking that the pressure is off, however, is a dangerous presumption.

The fact that an Internet-based business with no profitable business model is no longer the darling of the venture capitalists doesn't mean that the Internet isn't changing the world as we know it. If companies want to stay in business over the course of the next five years, they still have to learn to take advantage of the new channel, because it is much more effective than the old one. And they have to do so quickly.

The click-and-mortar companies that have gone through a series of phases, in a certain order, seem to have been the most successful. The first step for companies looking to formulate or improve their e-strategy is to establish in which phase they are. There are six phases:

• Corporate presence

• Product/service information

• E-commerce

• Advanced e-commerce

• Extranet

• Community

Corporate presence

This is often known as the "business card" Web site. Some companies spend millions designing just the right look and feel of their site, while others get a high school kid to put their company logo on a welcome page and another page to list their products and services. But in both cases, it's pretty much limited to static information about a company.

Product/service information

The first step to actually doing e-commerce is to put dynamic information about your products or services on the Web, along with detailed configuration information, pricing, and contact names and numbers. Often, this includes a feedback form or an information request form so a salesperson can contact customers. A high level of this is to actually publish your catalog of items and services on the Web and keep the information updated.

E-commerce

E-commerce occurs when people can order products and services directly from your Web site. Previously, e-commerce was often characterized by the type of people who are doing the buying: consumers (B2C) or businesses (B2B). Since the dot-com bubble burst, this terminology is falling out of favor, but it is still a useful categorization of who would be attracted to your site. The e-commerce phase typically involves putting a catalog of items online and providing a way to order and pay for items.

Advanced e-commerce

There's e-commerce, and then there's e-commerce. After the first few attempts at putting their products and services online, most companies realize that it is harder than it looks to get it right. It's not the look and feel that's important, it's the Web usability of the site. How easy is it to order? How quickly does the screen download? Does the site remember what I ordered before, or do I have to enter my name and address every time I get on?

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