Several recent studies have attempted to provide mechanisms to assist small businesses to adopt EDI. These appear to be based on the premise that small business acquire and use computer technology to increase market share, gain strategic advantage and promote customer and interorganisational relationships. Several surveys have been carried out on the small business community in Australia and these suggest that these premises are not uppermost in the minds of small business managers. This paper examines the reasons behind, and approaches used by small businesses in their adoption of information technology. It will be argued that for EDI to be viable in the small business environment, there needs to be a far greater understanding of this environment and the mechanisms by which it adopts and utilizes computer technologies and techniques.