If you build it, they will come. 

Or will they?

According to research from the Standish Group, the answer is no. In a recent study published by the firm, it was reported that only 28 percent of IT projects across all industries succeed. And that failure is glaring when you consider that Boston Consulting Group predicts U.S. B2B e-commerce will reach $4.8 trillion in transaction value by 2004, and a quarter of the world's B2B purchases will be made online.

So how does a company avoid becoming e-business road kill?

Based on the work of numerous organizations to design and implement world-class e-business initiatives, five best practices have been gleaned that all successful e-business initiatives share. 

1.  Have the Right Leadership

Not surprisingly, the e-business leadership team of any company sets the tone for the initiative. e-Business spans and impacts an entire enterprise, and the team driving the initiative must be comprised of managers from across the organization. This cross-departmental team will be responsible for creating the vision and rallying the organization behind it.

Because e-business initiatives can sometimes rock the boat and challenge the status quo, team members must be willing to take a hard, honest look at their company and question all processes in order to separate the ones that work from the ones that are outdated and inefficient. 

Equally important, e-business leaders must be externally focused. These leaders must not lose sight of the fact that the primary reason they are in business is to meet the needs of their customers. Initiatives may fail if the team is too focused on automating internal processes instead of the needs of external partners and customers. 

2.  Thoroughly Understand Internal Processes

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