Bain & Company, a leading strategy consulting firm, launched BainNet, a global alliance of Internet-related solutions providers, in June 2000. The alliance is designed to bring together leading firms in a number of e-Business-related disciplines, thus enabling Bain to offer clients a comprehensive set of capabilities to design and build e-Business initiatives. Alliances are all the rage in the e-Services and e-Consulting space, but Bain’s move represents an aggressive initiative into the e-World coming from the traditional, high-end management consulting firms. The BainNet initiative complemented other recent Bain forays into the e-Business arena, including the expansion of its e-Commerce practice and the launches of an incubator (bainlab) and a venture capital firm (eVolution Global Partners).

ITSMA spoke recently with Steve Berez, vice president of e-Commerce at Bain & Company. Steve is responsible for the development and management of the BainNet alliance globally. Steve joined Bain in 1992 and was promoted to his present position in 1999. As vice president of e-Commerce, Steve focuses on both client projects in a range of industries and practice development. His practice responsibilities focus on enhancing Bain’s technology capabilities through recruiting, training, and alliances, including leading BainNet. He shared with ITSMA the rationale for BainNet, how the program works, and how it differs from others in the technology sector.