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Making the Business Case for the Web

by Andy

One of the common frustrations of e-business leaders is that they are asked to demonstrate return on investment (ROI) on all web expenditures. For many years, e-business practitioners have been forced to rely on a steady stable of axioms to make the case for Web expenditures, such as that it supports brand, or that it is a must in this day and age. And while those of us who are close to the Web appreciated the truth to these assertions, what e-business needed was a focus on the business and elimination of the implicit pejorative the 'e-' implied.

Over the past several years a strong business case for the web has emerged:

• Advisors are demanding to interact and be serviced via the web.
• The competition at the top of this industry is forcing our firm to constantly raise the bar in how we evaluate the industry.
• Web use is positively correlated to gross sales.

The business case cannot be ignored. Customers want to interact with firms online, the competition is raising the bar, and sales can be positively correlated with Web use. The Web is no longer a perfunctory obligation, but a significant means of doing business, and, accordingly, a necessity of business itself.