ABSTRACT

Internet based computing can be depicted as simply a computer that interacts with other computing devices via the Internet. (McNurlin & Sprague, 2009).
In today’s scenario Internet has become "central nervous system of the world." Its global connectivity feature at low cost and being a user friendly has made e-business possible for everyone. The Internet with its information and communication power has enabled business to connect and maintain strong relations with customers and all other related parties. The Internet has transformed how many people do business and continues to grow at an astounding rate (Larry Kesslin, President, Let's Talk Business Network).
Beginning of Internet Era in business
Since the mid-1990s, the Internet has had a revolutionary impact on culture and commerce (Wikipedia). Existing enterprises went through stages of deployment of the Internet, most of which had minimal impact on their work. Simply put, between 1994 and 1998, managers went through a period of discovery, creating their first Web sites, populating them with information about their firms, products, and services, and providing contact information. Initially, it started with providing information about company’s products on Internet, the look and feel of which mirrored the printed brochures of the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The range of possible uses of the Internet in the business expanded all through the 1990s and the early 2000s as the technology evolved and became capable of performing new functions, and as firms learned how to leverage them. In the 1990s, in addition to existing firms using the Internet as an alternative channel through which to conduct business, while keeping earlier telecommunications networks, new companies appeared that only operated over the Internet, such as E*TRADE and Datek. By the late 1990s, over two hundred firms provided