Business to Business (B2B) websites are created to help businesses
interact with their product/service providers and business
partners. B2B websites normally requires that the partner login to a
web application to access or change
information. This can include inventory data, invoice
status information or any other information that needs to be shared.
The required business web hosting package must support user
authentication and secured access (SSL - Secured Access Layer).
Many businesses today use XML web services to integrate their
systems with those of their business partners. This allows systems
to "talk" to another system via the Internet using a non proprietary computer
language called XML. XML web services are expected to revolutionize
that way businesses integrate with one another. To deploy a web
service, special XML web hosting capabilities are required. This
allows one business to "publish" information to a web server and for
authorized business partners to "subscribe" to that web service.
Many companies provide XML web services free of charge while others
charge a usage fee. Large companies that lead in this area include Amazon and
Google. With the appropriate (and inexpensive) web hosting
functionality, small business can implement XML web services.
