As the second wave of the e-business revolution plays out, traditional firms--not ephemeral dot-coms--will do the hard work of making e-business both viable and profitable. But while established companies no longer question why they must migrate from traditional marketplace businesses to a combination of offline and online presence, most still struggle with how to do so. An indispensable e-business guidebook for established firms in all industries, Place to Space provides a simple but powerful strategic framework for analyzing, choosing, and implementing successful e-business enterprises. Based on several years of research and a detailed study of fifty online initiatives in a variety of traditional firms, authors Peter Weill and Michael R. Vitale describe eight atomic business models that they argue represent the core building blocks of all e-business ventures. Using powerful real-world case studies of international companies including Lonely Planet, GE Supply Company, Cisco, Reuters, and others, the authors illustrate each atomic business model--direct-to-customer, full-service provider, whole-of-enterprise/government, intermediary, shared infrastructure, virtual community, value net integrator, and content provider--in practice, and reveal the strategic objectives, sources of revenue, core competencies, critical success factors, and necessary IT infrastructures required for implementation. The authors also introduce a new diagnostic tool--the e-business model schematic--and show how leaders can create company-specific schematics that empower them to assess their current business models, identify the atomic e-business models that best suit their organizations, and combine those models to create powerful and customized value propositions for customers. The first book to provide a structured, practical approach for traditional firms migrating to the Web, this hands-on book will give leaders in all industries-from CEOs and senior managers to marketing and IT executives-the insight and confidence they need to operate successfully in both place and space. A guide for firms just beginning the process of migrating from traditional business models to the new, Internet-incorporated e-business models. Provides a rationale for this migration, and a strategic framework for analyzing, choosing and implementing successful e-business enterprises, including the required IT infrastructure. DLC: Electronic commerce. Place to Space, by Peter Weill and Michael Vitale, is an accessible entry point for old-economy senior managers who know e-business is in their future but are not quite sure how to best tackle this brave new world. Weill, director of the Center for Information Systems Research at the MIT Sloan School, and Vitale, dean and director of the Australian Graduate School of Management, identify and examine eight "atomic e-business models" (looking into everything from strategic objectives and IT requirements to how money is made) and propose ways these can be adapted to create individualized e-business initiatives in all types of existing firms. "This book," write Weill and Vitale, "focuses on the key challenges facing leaders of successful, established businesses migrating from their traditional marketplace business models to a combination of place and space"--a tag they've adopted for operations both offline and on. Their purpose is to "provide a structured approach to understanding and implementing e-business models" that mix new Net-based strategies including electronic auctions and virtual communities with traditional approaches like direct-to-customer connections and full-service relationships. Incorporating informative case studies, they present a solid primer on ways business can be conducted electronically and clear direction to help in choosing among the proper solutions to various situations. --Howard Rothman Despite the recent, unsettling dot-com fallout, the authors claim that the e-revolution is here to stay. Moreover, they say, with few exceptions, solidly managed, financially stable traditional companies will lead the most productive, profitable and long-term forays into e-commerce. Weill and Vitale, affiliated with MIT's Sloan School of Management and the Australian Graduate School of Management, respectively, use extensive surveys and research to show how bricks-and-mortar companies can and should use the Internet to expand their businesses profitably. While a consumer may simply want a user-friendly Web site, businesses have to evaluate a range of questions, including financial, technical and marketing issues, when creating an e-business. The notion of ownership is crucial: "In any e-business model, there are three important questions of ownership who owns the customer relationship, who owns the customer data and who owns the customer transaction." The book expands on key e-business models and includes brief profiles of companies like Lonely Planet and Cisco. This highly technical study will appeal primarily to information technology specialists, e-business consultants and company executives ready to roll up their sleeves and take a hard look at their infrastructure and channels of distribution in order to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the Internet. Still, the writing is clear, and the authors use a textbook approach with chapter summaries that will enhance readers' ability to turn their analysis into practical application.