B2B e-commerce is complex enough without internal conflict about who should lead. Business teams want speed and flexibility to capture market opportunities. IT teams want governance and scalability to avoid costly mistakes. The tension between these perspectives can determine whether a digital transformation succeeds or becomes a $100 million cautionary tale.
The stakes: Success or failure
One practitioner shared a story at a conference about a Fortune 10 company that spent $100 million on an e-commerce implementation that was never completed. The effort was done by committee with no clear leadership and internal infighting. He likened it to taking an engine apart and putting the pieces on the floor with no plan to reassemble them.
But the opposite extreme carries risk too. Amazon Supply launched in 2012 assuming B2B was all about price. They assembled 2 million SKUs in a 100% virtual selling model with no tools for managing buyer-seller relationships. After three years of failure, they learned and relaunched as Amazon Business with industry expertise and accommodation for B2B buyer workflows. Amazon Business grew to $25 billion in annual sales.
The debate format
Team Business included Cary Vance from Keysight Technologies, who manages both e-commerce and channel partners for the test and measurement equipment manufacturer, and Greg Lord from Elastic Path. Team IT featured Ali Alkhafaji, CTO of TA Digital, and Ben Potgeter from Edna Supply, who holds both technical and MBA credentials.
Round 1: Are POCs still best practice?
Team IT argued that proofs of concept remain essential for risk mitigation. Ali Alkhafaji distinguished between POCs that test hypotheses and MVPs that establish baselines for iteration.
If you want to go without a proof of concept, power to you. But if you keep cutting corners, sooner or later you are going to cut yourself.
Ben Potgeter, Edna Supply
Team Business countered that e-commerce itself no longer needs to be proven. Greg Lord argued that organizations get wrapped around the axle doing business case scenarios when they should focus on KPIs and get started. Cary Vance added that POCs are appropriate for genuinely new functionality, but you cannot waste time on them when results are needed.
The audience voted 70% that POCs remain best practice, suggesting practitioners still see value in structured risk mitigation.
Round 2: Estimating implementation costs
The second round examined whether companies can accurately estimate e-commerce implementation costs. Team IT argued that they understand system integration better than business teams who set arbitrary budgets based on spreadsheet targets.
If I had a penny for every time IT was given a budget and some arbitrary deadline because that is what business put on a spreadsheet somewhere, I would be a millionaire.
Ali Alkhafaji, TA Digital
Team Business pushed back that results must be measured along the way, not just at the end. Cary Vance described how Keysight funds programs as capital expenditures over three to five years but measures on a P&L basis including orders and contribution to earnings per share.
The audience voted that implementation costs cannot be accurately estimated in advance, acknowledging the inherent uncertainty in complex digital projects.
Round 3: App marketplaces and composable commerce
The final round examined whether app marketplaces can deliver the functionality B2B companies need. Ali Alafage advocated for building only what you need rather than buying an all-in-one solution when simpler functionality would suffice.
Greg Lord warned about the trap of assuming large app marketplaces provide optionality for the future. Many offerings are designed for basic B2C experiences rather than complex B2B requirements.
That standard plugin from the app marketplace is not going to cut it when you get into unique requirements. Then you are trying to unwind all of those prebuilt things to make it work around your unique requirements. It gets really messy.
Greg Lord, Elastic Path
Ben Potgeter offered a framework: identify what differentiates your business from competitors, and invest in custom or enterprise solutions for those areas. Everything else can come from the marketplace.
The audience split exactly 50-50 on whether app marketplaces are rich enough today, suggesting the industry is in transition.
The verdict: Collaboration wins
Both closing arguments converged on the same conclusion. Greg Lord acknowledged that despite arguing for business leadership, successful projects require strong partnership between business and technology teams. Ali Alafage agreed that successful commerce implementation requires collaboration.
At the end of the day, successful commerce implementation for B2B has to be collaboration, otherwise you will not get the best possible experience for the customer.
Ali Alkhafaji, TA Digital
The hosts identified an emerging role bridging this gap: Chief Digital Innovation Officer. This position, often filled by former CIOs with business acumen, reports to the CEO and can speak both languages. The role addresses the fundamental tension between business urgency and IT governance by creating a single point of accountability.
Practical implications for B2B leaders
Three questions emerged from the debate. First, who owns digital transformation in your organization, and do they have authority to drive decisions across both business and IT? Second, how much room does your organization give teams to test and learn, including tolerance for structured failure? Third, are you evaluating technology based on your unique requirements, or assuming that platform capabilities will match your needs?
The Amazon lesson applies broadly. Companies must be willing to fail and learn, but failure should be measured and structured rather than the result of poor governance. Whether you move fast or slow, alignment between business and IT determines whether you end up with a working engine or pieces on the floor.