Lecture 7 (Chapter 9, G.

Schneider)

Web Hosting and E-Business Software

Md Mahbubul Alam, PhD

Professor
Learning Objectives

• Find and evaluate web-hosting services

• Basic and advanced functions of electronic commerce software
• How the size of a business affects its choice of electronic commerce
software
• Electronic commerce software for small, midsize and large businesses

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Hosting

• Shared hosting
 Client's Web site is on a server that hosts other Web sites simultaneously
 Operated by the service provider at its location
• Dedicated hosting
 Client Web server not shared with other clients
 Service provider owns server hardware, leases hardware to client
 Maintains Web server hardware, software and provides Internet connection
• Co-location service
 Service provider rents physical space to client
 Provides reliable power supply, Internet connection
 Clients install server hardware and software; maintain server

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Hosting Arrangement Decision

• Electronic commerce software needs determined by:

 Expected enterprise size
 Projected traffic and sales
 Budget
 Consider online store creation costs versus brick and mortar costs
 Consider external or in-house host costs

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Basic Functions of Electronic Commerce Software (cont’d)

• All electronic commerce solutions must provide

 Catalog display
 Shopping cart capabilities
 Transaction processing

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Catalog Display

• Catalog organizes goods and services being sold

• Organizes offerings into departments
• Web store advantage
 Single product may appear in multiple categories

• Catalog: listing of goods and services

 Static catalog
o Simple list written in HTML that appears on a Web page or a series of Web pages
o To change or add or delete item, one must edit the HTML of one or more pages
 Dynamic catalog:
o Stores the information about items in a database,
o Allow multiple photos of each item, detailed descriptions and a search tool for customers
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Catalog Display (cont’d)

• Large, well-known electronic commerce sites

 Include many features; professional looking
 Use dynamic catalog aides and tools

• Small online stores (sell fewer than 100 items)

 Require simple products or categories list
 Item organization not important
 Can provide item photos with links
 Use a static catalog

• Good sites provide alternative ways to find products

 Search engine
 “Never Stand in the way of a customer who wants to buy something”.
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Shopping Cart

• Electronic commerce early days

 Used forms-based shopping
 Shoppers selected items by filling out
online forms
 Awkward if ordering more than one or
two items

• Problems
 Need to write down product codes, unit
prices, other information before ordering
 Customers forgot whether submit button
clicked
 Confusing and error prone

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 Shopping Cart (cont’d)

• Electronic shopping carts

 Now the standard method for processing sales
 Keep track of items customer selected
 May view cart contents, add items, remove items
 Ordering requires a simple click
 Item details stored automatically in cart
 Button click executes the purchase transaction
 Screen asks for billing and shipping information

• Shopping cart software

 BIZNET Internet Services, SalesCart, WebGenie
Software
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Shopping Cart (cont’d)

• Web: stateless system

 Unable to remember anything from one transmission or session to another

• How does shopping cart retrieve information later?

 Use cookies
 Allows information to be stored explicitly
 Allows unique user identification

• If browser does not allow cookie storage

 Electronic commerce software automatically assigns temporary number
 e.g., ShopSite
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Transaction Processing

• Transaction processing occurs

when shopper proceeds to
virtual checkout counter by
clicking a checkout button
• Electronic commerce software
performs necessary
calculations, e.g., discounts,
tax, shipping costs.
• Web browser software and
seller’s Web server software
switch into secure Fig. Basic electronic commerce Web site architecture
communication state
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Transaction Processing (cont’d)

• Most companies use accounting software package

 Records sales and inventory movements
 Requires integration with accounting software that runs on other computers
• Web sites use software to update tax rates
 FedEx and UPS shipping rate software integrates with e-commerce software
• Other calculations
 Coupons, special promotions, time-sensitive offers
 e.g., ‘purchase a round-trip ticket before the end of the month and receive a 50 percent
discount’
• Large companies
 Integration may be complex
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Advanced Functions of Electronic Commerce Software

1. Databases
2. Middleware
3. Enterprise Application Integration
4. Integration with ERP Systems
5. Web Services

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Databases

• Database
 Collection of information
 Stored on a computer in a highly structured way

• Business rules
 How the company does business

• Database manager (database management software), is a software that

 Makes it easy for users to:
o Enter, edit, update, retrieve information in the database
 Examples: Microsoft Access, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle
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Middleware

• Middleware is a software
 takes sales and inventory shipments information from electronic commerce software and
transmits to accounting and inventory management software
 Companies can write own middleware or purchase customized middleware

• Interoperability
 Making information systems work together (e.g., integrate electronic commerce software
with accounting and inventory management databases or applications)
o Middleware cost range: $50,000 to several million dollars
o Major middleware vendors: BEA Systems, Broadvision, Digital River, IBM Tivoli Systems,
Informatica

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Enterprise Application Integration

• Application program (application software, application)

o A program that performs specific function
o e.g., creating invoices, calculating payroll, processing payments

• Application server, a computer that

o Takes request messages received by the Web server
o Runs application program that performs action based on request message’s
contents
o Actions determined by business logic
• Business logic
o Rules used in the business
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Enterprise Application Integration (cont’d)

• Application integration (enterprise application integration)

o Creation of links among scattered applications
o Interconnects organization’s business logic
• Accomplished by programs transferring information
o From one application to another
 Transferring information from order entry systems in several different divisions to a
single accounts receivable
 Sales system that integrates all enterprise-wide sales activity
• Various program data formats differ
• Must edit and reformat data before transferring it
• Increasingly using XML data feeds to move data from one application to another
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 Enterprise Application Integration (cont’d)

• Types of application servers: Page-based and component-based systems

• Page-based application systems • Component-based application system
o Return pages generated by scripts o Separates presentation logic from business logic
containing rules o Preferred by larger businesses
o Present data on Web page with the o Logic component created and maintained
business logic separately
o Hard to revise once the system reach a o Updating, changing system elements much
higher level of complexity easier
• Examples for small, midsized Web sites • Common Web component-based systems
o Adobe ColdFusion o Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs)
o JavaServer Pages (JSP) o Microsoft Component Object Model (COM)
o Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) o Common Object Request Broker Architecture
o Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)
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Integration with ERP Systems

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

software packages
• Business systems integrating all facets of a
business
• Accounting, logistics, manufacturing,
marketing, planning, project
management, treasury functions
• Two major ERP vendors: Oracle and SAP
• ERP software installation costs
• Between $2 million and $25 million

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Web Services: What?

• Internet is used to connect specific software applications at one organization

directly to software applications at other organizations
• Software systems supporting interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over
a network
• Set of software and technologies allowing computers to use the Web to interact
with each other directly without humans directing the specific interactions
• Application program interface (API): programs interconnect with each other
• Web Service Specifications:
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
• REST and RESTful (Representational State Transfer )

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Electronic Commerce Software for Small and Midsize Companies

1. Basic Commerce Service Providers

(CSPs)
 free or low-cost e-commerce software
 Cost: less than $20 per month
 Software built into CSP’s site
 Selling few items (no more than 50)
 Incurring relatively low transaction volumes
(fewer than 20 transactions per day)
 e.g., ValueWeb, ProHosting.com, 1&1
Internet, Yahoo!

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Electronic Commerce Software for Small and
Midsize Companies (cont’d)

2. Mall-style Commerce Service Providers

o Online store design tools and storefront templates
o Easy-to-use interface
o Web page-generation capabilities
o Page maintenance
o Shopping cart software capabilities
o Payment processing services
o Data mining capabilities
o e.g., eBay (cost less than $20 per month), Amazon.com (transaction fee plus percentage of the
selling price)

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Electronic Commerce Software for Midsize to Large
Businesses

• Web Site Development Tools

 After Web site creation programmers can add purchased software elements, such as
shopping cart and content management software
 Create the middleware
 More expensive than using a CSP
 $2000 to $50,000
• Three midrange electronic commerce systems
 Intershop Enfinity
 WebSphere Commerce Suite by IBM
 Commerce Server by Microsoft

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Electronic Commerce Software for Large Businesses

• Enterprise-class software • Requirements

• Commerce software for large-scale systems • Several dedicated computers, Web
server system, firewalls
• Enterprise
• Describes system serving multiple locations of
one company • Enterprise-class product
• Encompasses all areas of the business or examples
enterprise • IBM WebSphere Commerce
• Software provides tools for B2B and B2C Enterprise, Oracle E-Business Suite,
Broadvision products
commerce
• Interacts with wide variety of existing
• Provides tools for linking to and
systems
• Database, accounting, ERP
supporting supply, purchasing
• Costs: $100,000 to $10 million
activities
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Enterprise-Class Electronic Commerce Software
(cont’d)

• Provides standard electronic

commerce activities
o Secure transaction processing and
fulfillment
o Interaction with firm’s inventory
system
o Making proper stock adjustment
o Issuing purchase orders for
needed supplies
o Generating other accounting
entries

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 Customer Relationship Management Software (CRM)

• Goal
• CRM business importance
• Understand each customer’s specific
• Maintaining customer loyalty
needs
• Customize product or service to meet • Maintaining positive, consistent contacts at
those needs the purchasing company
• If customer needs met exactly they will
pay more for goods or services • Oracle Siebel CRM Applications
• Leading CRM software provider
• CRM software • SAP CRM: another vendor
• Obtains data from operations software • Costs: $25,000 to millions of dollars
• Gathers data about customer activities • Newer CRM: buyer does not have to install
CRM software on its own servers
• Uses data to conduct analytical activities
• Example: Salesforce.com

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Supply Chain Management Software (SCM)

• Helps companies coordinate planning • Two major firms offering SCM software
and operations with industry partners  i2 Technologies and JDA Software
• Two general function types: planning and
execution
• i2 Technologies product: RHYTHM
• SCM planning software o Manages demand planning, supply
 Develops coordinated demand planning, demand fulfillment
forecasts
 Uses information from each supply • JDA Software
chain participant o Originally managed retail order entry and
• SCM execution software sales side of inventory control
 Helps with warehouse and o Example: retailer with 500 stores
transportation management o $3 million and $10 million

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Content Management Software

• Help firms to control large amounts of text, graphics, media files

• Why important?
 Increased use of smart phones, netbook computers, pad computing devices, social media
 Companies needing many different ways to access corporate information

• IBM and Oracle

o Provide software as components in other enterprise software packages
o Software costs
o Between $100,000 and $500,000
o 3 to 4 times higher costs in case of customized software

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Knowledge Management Software

• Systems managing knowledge itself

• Rather than documentary representations of that knowledge

• Four main tasks

 Collect and organize information
 Share information among users
 Enhance ability of users to collaborate
 Preserve knowledge gained through information use

• Major software vendors: IBM, Microsoft SharePoint, BMC Software, CustomerVision

 Costs: $10,000 to $1 million or more

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Cloud Computing

• New force in the software industry

• Allows companies to gain the benefits of software without having to install
computing hardware and maintain it.
• Users do not need to upgrade or reconfigure their servers
• Vendor maintains the entire software installation at its sites.
• Software users pays a subscription fee (few hundred dollars per user per year)
• Popular cost-reduction strategy
• Company can gain flexibility in launching new operations

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 Question
Please
?
Acknowledgement:
“E-business” by Gary Schneider

01/07/2024 Prepared & Presented by Md. Mahbubul Alam, PhD 31