In November 1999, the CIO attended a remarkable conference in San Francisco on e-business solutions sponsored by IBM.  According to Forrester Research, "[e-business] Consumer sales will reach $108 billion by 2003, up from $3.8 billion in 1998.  Business-to-business [e-]commerce will reach $1.3 trillion by 2003, up from $45 billion in 1998."

What does this mean for tradition-bound U.S. Higher Education?  No-one knows for sure, but perhaps we should pay attention to the following five strategies suggested by IBM:

1. Take a 20,000-foot view.  Make certain that your e-business objectives match your business objectives and your e-business brand strategy reflects your overall brand.
2. Plan for more than the tip of the iceberg.  Plan for the most extreme conditions (redundant systems are key).
3. Create a safety net.  Take precautions to identify potential privacy lapses and protect your most valuable commodity:  your customers.
4. Turn spectators into participants.  Track what's happening on your site and use the information to make the user experience better over time.
5. Build it, they will come.  Build it extremely well, they'll stick.  To give your customers what they want, your site must be available 24X7 - without fail . . . you need a flexible architecture that will let you add functionality over time - integrating the various databases and transaction system investments you've already made.