E-business Infrastructure

Issues for managers

• What are the practical risks to the organization
of failure to adequately manage
e-commerce infrastructure?
• How should staff access to the Internet be
managed?
 Why the language?
• Why do business managers need to know
about the jargon and technology?
 Infrastructure issues
• Make a list of the potential problems for users
of e-business services developed by The B2C
Company.
• You should consider problems faced by users
of e-business applications who are both
internal and external to the organization.
• Base your answer on problems you have
experienced on a web site that can be related
to network, hardware and software failures or
problems with data quality.
 Typical problems
• Web site communications too slow.
• Web site not available.
• Bugs on site through pages being
unavailable or information typed in forms not
being executed.
• Ordered products not delivered on time.
• E-mails not replied to.
• Customers’ privacy or trust is broken through
security problems such as credit cards being
stolen or addresses sold to other companies.
Activity – Internet infrastructure components
• Write down all the different types of hardware
and software involved from when a user types
in a web address such as www.google.com to
the web site being loaded
 Internet infrastructure
components

Figure 3.2 Physical and network infrastructure components of the Internet (Levels
IV and III in Figure 3.1)
 Information exchange between a
web browser and web server

Figure 3.7 Information exchange between a web browser and web server
 History of the Internet

Figure 3.3 Internet timeline

 Intranets and extranets

Figure 3.4 The relationship between intranets, extranets and the Internet
 Activity – a common problem with
intranets and extranets
• The B2B Company has found that after an initial
surge of interest in its intranet and extranet, usage
has declined dramatically. Many of the warning signs
mentioned in the KM (2002) article are evident. The
e-business manager wants to achieve these aims:
• 1. Increase usage.
• 2. Produce more dynamic content.
• 3. Encourage more clients to order (extranet).

• What would you suggest?

 Suggested answer
• Identify benefits
• Involve staff with development
• Find system sponsors, owners and advocates
• Train on benefits
• Keep content fresh, relevant and where
possible, fun
• Use e-mail to encourage usage
 TCP/IP protocol

Figure 3.9 The TCP/IP protocol

 URLs and domain names
• Web addresses are structured in a standard way as follows:
• http://www.domain-name.extension/filename.html
• What do the following extensions or global top level domains stand
for?
– .com
– .co.uk, .uk.com
– .org or .org.uk
– .gov
– .edu, .ac.uk
– .int
– .net
– .biz
– .info
 HTML and XML
• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
A standard format used to define the text and
layout of web pages. HTML files usually have
the extension .HTML or .HTM

• XML or eXtensible Markup Language

• A standard for transferring structured data,
unlike HTML which is purely presentational.
 HTML Example

Figure 3.10 Home page index.html for The B2B Company in a web browser
showing HTML source in text editor
 XML example
Product>
<Action Value5”Delete”/>
<ProductID>118003-008</ProductID>
</Product>
<Product Type5”Good” SchemaCategoryRef5”C43171801”>
<ProductID>140141-002</ProductID>
<UOM><UOMCoded>EA</UOMCoded></UOM>
<Manufacturer>Compaq</Manufacturer>
<LeadTime>2</LeadTime>
<CountryOfOrigin>
<Country><CountryCoded>US</CountryCoded></Country>
</CountryOfOrigin>
 Media standards
• GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) A graphics
format and compression algorithm best used for
simple graphics
• JPEG (Joint Photographics Experts Group) A
graphics format and compression algorithm best
used for photographs
• Streaming media. Sound and video that can be
experienced within a web browser before the whole
clip is downloaded e.g. Real Networks .rm format
• Video standards include MPEG and .AVI
• Sound standards include MP3 and WMA
 E-business infrastructure

Figure 3.1 A five-layer model of e-business infrastructure

 Data transfer rates

Figure 3.11 Variation in average transfer rate of data from a web server,
compilation of UK ISPs
Source: Compilation of UK ISPs from webperf.net, The Performance Benchmark, September 2003.
www.webperf.net owned and operated by ServerHouse Ltd.
© 2003 ServerHouse.
 Availability

Figure 3.12 Variation in web server availability, compilation of UK ISPs

Source: Compilation of UK ISPs from WebPerf.net, The Performance Benchmark, September 2003.
www.webperf.net owned and operated by ServerHouse Ltd.
© 2003 ServerHouse
 Applications infrastructure

Figure 3.15 (a) Fragmented applications infrastructure

Source: Adapted from Hasselbring (2000)
 Applications infrastructure

Figure 3.15 (b) integrated applications infrastructure

Source: Adapted from Hasselbring (2000)
 Differing use of applications at
different levels in a company

Figure 3.16 Differing use of applications at levels of management within

companies
 Elements of e-business
infrastructure requiring management

Figure 3.17 Elements of e-business infrastructure that require management

 Mobile access platforms

Figure 3.19 Mobile access technologies

 3G mobile
The main features are:
• Dual mode 2G/3G device supporting data upload of 64 kbps
and download of 384 kbps (used for videos),
65,536 colour display of 46 x 57mm (132 x 162 pixels)
• Web browsing
• Two cameras for picture and video
• Download and playing of audio and video e.g football
• Supports MPEG4 and WMA files
• Download and play games using JAVA(TM) technology
• Qwerty keyboard, Email and word processing.

Source: www.nec.com/3gsmworldcongress/press/images/e808.jpg
 iDTV – interactive TV

Figure 3.21 Components of an interactive digital TV system

 Activity – how would you respond?
• You are e-commerce manager for the BBC.
• How would you evaluate your response to the
launch of the 3G phone?
• i.e. which sources would you use to base your
response on?
 Strategic Planning
Strategic planning determines where an
organization is headed over the next year or
more, how it's going to get there and how it
will know if the results are successful. There
are a variety of perspectives, models and
approaches used in strategic planning.
 Strategic Planning
• Vision and Mission Statements A successful organization
understands that it takes more than a good plan to succeed in
business. It takes an empowered organization with impassioned
leadership, focused on realistic goals. It takes vision, consensus
and a sense of purpose. According to Jack Welch, previous
Chairman for General Electric, "Good business leaders create a
vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and
relentlessly drive it to completion."
• The vision statement describes what the leaders of an
organization want it to look like in ideal terms in the future - the
results they seek to achieve and characteristics needed to
possess in order to achieve those results. The strategic vision
statement provides direction and motivation for organizational goal
setting.
• A mission statement is an organization's declaration of its
principles, purposes, and objectives that can be used to initiate,
evaluate, and refine all life activities. It is an enduring statement
of purpose for an organization that identifies the scope of its
operations in product and market terms, and reflects its values
and priorities. Every company no matter how big or small,
needs a mission statement as a source of direction, a kind of
compass, that lets its employees, its customers, and even its
stockholders know what it stands for and where it's headed. A
mission statement gives everyone the opportunity to know what
the organization is about.
Environmental Analysis
Environmental analysis plays a central role in strategic
management. For a company to gain or maintain a sustainable
competitive advantage in the e-commerce marketplace, it must be
ever attentive, watching and preparing for shifts in the business
environment and must be prepared to alter its strategies and plans
when the need arises.
Competitive Factors
In formulating an e-business strategy, a company must consider
the strategies of their competitors. A competitive analysis allows
them to identify the competition within the same market in order
to analyze their strengths and weaknesses. This will help a
company develop strategies that will provide them with a definite
advantage and barriers that can be established in order to prevent
competition from taking over the market.
Economic Factors
The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer
purchasing power and spending patterns. The environment in which an
organization operates is very much determined by macro-economic
factors.
Social / Demographic Factors
Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size,
density, location, age, ethnicity, income, occupation and other
statistics, as well as those variables bringing about change in that
population. The demographic environment consists of the customers
who form the marketplace.
Economic Factors
The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer
purchasing power and spending patterns. The environment in which an
organization operates is very much determined by macro-economic
factors.
Long Term Objectives
One of the key purposes of a comprehensive planning process is to
establish a set of long-term objectives and recommend a series of
strategies and policies to ensure that these goals are attained in the
most effective way. The established goals combined represent an
organization's vision or desire for a future condition that will
enhance its overall image and quality of life. It is important to
understand that these objectives serve as the backbone of the
strategic plan. That means that any planning element included in
this plan should function as reinforcement to these objectives.
Here are some steps that an organization can take to evolve the
company culture toward e-business:
• In order to be successful, e-business requires that information flow freely
within an organization. Business experts need to be designated in each
major functional area to facilitate the free flow of information and connect
people and processes throughout the enterprise.

• Recognize that an e-business is an inside-out proposition. In order to

operate as a true e-business, your core processes must be
predominantly real-time, online, integrated and interactive.

• Remember that continual education and training is essential. Everyone

within the organization must be knowledgeable of basic e-business
concepts. For those who are accountable in areas that involve direct
interaction with customers, more detailed training is needed.

• Instill a sense of urgency necessary to deliver the level of service that

should help drive business decisions. Customers now expect immediate
quality service, whether it is in person, on the phone or on the web.

• Recognize that the Internet and the realities of e-business have

permanently changed the barriers to competition. Viable competitors can
spring up almost overnight.