Abstract
The b2b evolution has been the combined effect of technologies like collaboration, procurement, supply chain management, customer management, auctioning, and content.

These technologies enable a full-service solution that link companies while spanning all market-place customer requirements such as supply chain needs, product life cycle and customer management.

To support this wide range of customer needs while minimizing marketplace management efforts, a technology platform that provides standard tools and re-usable components is needed. This platform should be based on industry standards wherever possible, supported by an extensible, multi-entity data model to facilitate true many-to-many processes. It should be capable of distributed transactions across multiple applications and organizations. Equipped with an open API for easy integration with other marketplaces it should also provide access to and allow creation and management of rich content.

Presented with a personalized user interface (UI), at its core, the platform must have certain critical technical components such as security, monitoring, integration, content, collaboration support and marketplace to marketplace integration. In addition the platform should have certain critical business components such as tools to reduce administration efforts, site management, billing management, marketplace transaction management & catalog management.

Furthermore, there are a number of good-to-have features such as personalization, analytical, workflow, communication and others for marketplaces to improve user retention and maintenance.

Author Shashank Gupta

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