ACC is a strategic business consultancy known for its growth-focused business blueprints in traditional and new economy markets. The company recently added to its e-business competency with the introduction of sales, implementation and development consultants, extending its service portfolio from strategic business management consulting to e-business deployment. "The only difference between e-business and traditional business is the tools used to develop and grow the business model," says Brownbill. "It's how you use the tools that makes the difference to your mid- to long-term strategy and how successful that strategy ultimately proves.

"Many companies jumped straight into the initiation phase of their e-business plans without taking stock of the effect on existing business strategies and the impact on the business. Using an analogy, that's like building a house without securing the foundations. The house will stand, but soon enough cracks will appear, and no matter how often they're filled in or repaired, more will appear until eventually the house is rebuilt or collapses entirely. "That's similar to what we've been seeing in a business sense, companies covering up the visible cracks in their business and trying to reinvent themselves because their fundamentals aren't sound."

The result: strategies thrown out of sync with the ever-increasing technology investment, and consequently poor returns on that investment with a terminal impact on the bottom-line. "Companies also have to look past the confines of their own business frameworks to avoid the 'corporate corridor' that tends to set in when making changes to the business," he adds. "That's why outsourcing strategic planning makes sense, especially where e-business has not been the main focus."

The objective of any strategic plan, according to Brownbill, should be to minimise long-term costs and maximise short-term gain. "South African companies, like many others around the world, haven't minimised their long term costs because of the lure of the e-business bandwagon and the consequent defocus on business fundamentals. Now that it's time to pick up the pieces they're nervous about getting any external help with their efforts.

"Again this doesn't make sense, purely because companies struggle to look at themselves differently and objectively within their own boardroom walls. The tools we have at our disposal today are just that - tools - but they are different in every other way to what's come before.

" There's no reason why companies should stop looking for an e-business partner to take them forward as planned."

Nigel Brownbill - Executive Chairman of Advanced Corporate Concepts (Pty) Ltd