CET437: Electronic Business

Week 4: E-business implementation, infrastructure and management

Internet Protocols
Standards which allow
Packets of information (message + address of sender + address of receiver) to be sent over the Internet

Several protocols for different purposes Bandwidth

Rate of data transmission (Mbps) Large files require high bandwidth

Internet Protocols
TCP/IP Protocols TCP (Transport Control Protocol)
Defines structure of the packets

IP (Internet Protocol)
Adds addresses to packets for transmission over the Internet

TCP/IP is the standard transmission protocol for the Internet

Internet Protocols
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) Web document protocol Browser contacts WWW server as client Server returns copy of page (HTML) Brower displays page HTML defines how page looks and any embedded links

Internet Protocols
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Allows transfer of files between computers using TCP/IP Command driven
open (connection to remote host) download (get) or upload (send or put)

Internet Protocols
SMTP (Standard Message Transfer Protocol) email protocol Allows ASCII files to be transmitted Uses uuencoding or AppleDouble or BinHex conversions etc Often used with POP3 or IMAP

Markup Languages
Standard Generalised Markup Language (SGML) : ISO standard 1980s HyperText Markup Language (HTML): Subset of SGML, defines way a browser displays a document including hyperlinks, multimedia eXtensible Markup Language (XML): Based on SGML, allows specification of structures within a document eXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML): XML + HTML

Internet Addresses
Email addresses
Account name@domain name

IP address
Unique number given to every computer on the internet Dotted quad format eg 123.145.1.1

Domain Name Server (DNS)

Maps IP addresses to names, eg www.hanu.edu.au

URL Address of a web page http://fit.hanu.edu.vn/uclan

Internet Service Providers

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide
Provide connection facilities (no control over internet management) Internet access for organisations and individuals Network management & systems integration services Access to other ISPs Software for navigating & publishing on the internet Payment systems for on-line purchases

Connecting to the Internet

ISPs - Information
Telstra Big Pond http://www.bigpond.com/ OptusNet http://www.optusnet.com.au/ Australian ISPs: http://www.broadbandguide.com.au/ Web Site: http://whirlpool.net.au/

E-Business infrastructure
The aim of e-business infrastructure is to support business process integration Server provides makes files available to other computers (email, file, web, database) The main job of a Web server computer is to respond to requests from Web client computers Three main elements of e-business infrastructure: Hardware (including distributed computer networking System software (built on client/server architectures) Web server software (HTML, XML, CGI, etc)

Types of Web Sites

Development sites
Used to evaluate different Web designs

Intranets
Corporate networks

Extranets
Intranets that allow authorized parties outside the company to access information stored in the

system Transaction-processing sites

Commerce sites that must be available 24/7

Content-delivery sites

Site Design Issues

What is a Web site? A set of linked documents with shared attributes related topics similar design shared purpose

Phases of Web Development

Site Planning
File organisation, audience, goals

Designing web pages

Storyboards, layout mockups

Adding content - text, images, movies, sound etc Adding interactivity - animation, feedback, demos etc Testing and publishing

Site Planning
Determine goals Choose target audience Create a design look Consider browser compatibility Consider file organisation Design navigation scheme

Layout
The Web is NOT WYSIWYG (Not WhatYou-See-Is-What-You-Get) Browser/platform differences Screen sizes affect look Colour palettes affect look Test your page with different browsers Recommend a browser/set up to your users

Lay out

Colour
No of colours
Choose a colour scheme

Palettes/lookup tables differ

Mathematical tables defining colour of a pixel

Web safe colours

Same on Firefox, IE, Windows, Mac 216 web safe colours highcolor (16 bit), truecolor (32 bit)

Test for colour-blindness

Text
Size Vary size in proportion to message Font Choose legible font - decorative fonts that cannot be read are useless Too many fonts - ransom-note typography Colour Can you read grey on white ? Use consistent link colours

Mac Vs PC Font Sizes

Typically 12-point on a Mac will be 10 or 9 point size in Windows
Mac Times New Roman Size 6

Windows Times New Roman Size 6.

Navigation
Speed is affected by Size of images Overload of graphics, movies, sound Target user - network or modem Make links obvious Always have a link back to the home page Frames can aid navigation - but reduce display space

Client/server architectures
Client computers request & consume services (data, printing, web page) Server computers provide the requested services and data A computer can be both client and server Allows distributed programs to interconnect across networks Information exchange between clients and servers takes place as messages

Client/server architectures
Allow businesses to design applications to suit business needs eg order processing DB at Head Office, clients at branch offices Commonly two-tier client/server architecture
Tiers are logical components of an application Tiers are connected by TCP/IP

Client/server architectures

Two-Tier Client/Server Architecture

Two-tier client/server architecture has only one client tier and one server tier Client tier handles GUI & client-side business rules Server tier handles database mechanisms Limitations Scalability with high no. of users Poor business logic sharing (client side) Client reliance on DB structure Limited interoperability High maintenance costs

Two-Tier Client/Server Architecture

Three-Tier Client/Server Architectures

Three-tier architecture
Presentation Tier - GUI web browser Processing Tier (maybe multiple) - business logic and application processing Data Tier - holds permanent data associated with supported applications

N-tier architectures
Higher-order architectures allow additional processing

Three-Tier Client/Server Architectures

Web Architectures
Based on TCP/IP networks A collection of middleware software applications acting on behalf of users and other applications & resources Generally have Identity (URL) Format (HTML, XML, etc) Protocol (HTTP etc)

Web-based Content
Based on documents such as HTML, GIF, JPEG, MPEG etc Server can
Deliver files (static documents) Execute other programs producing resources (dynamic documents)

Dynamic content is generated on request, Static content is retrieved from a file system

Dynamic Content
Server-side scripting Programs running on a Web server create Web pages before sending them back to the requesting Web clients Dynamic page-generation technologies include: Active Server Pages (ASP) JavaServer Pages (JSP) PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) (Apache) ColdFusion MS .NET

Web Server Software

The most popular Web server software:
Apache HTTP Server Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) Sun Java System Web Server (JSWS)

Linux
Open-source operating system that is easy to install, fast, and efficient

Open-source software
Developed by a community of programmers who make it available for download at no cost

Web Hosting Options

Self-hosting
Running servers in-house

Service providers (ISPs, ASPs, CSPs)

Provide Internet access to companies and individuals Offer Web server management and the renting of application software

Web Hosting Options

Shared hosting
Clients Web site is on a server that hosts other Web sites simultaneously

Dedicated hosting
Service provider makes a Web server available to a client Co-location Service provider rents a physical space to the client to install its own server hardware

Basic Functions of Electronic Commerce Software

Electronic commerce solutions typically provide: A catalog display Static or dynamic Shopping cart capabilities Keeps track of order items (no/little typing) Transaction processing Calculations at virtual checkout

Web Services
Combination of software tools that let application software in one organization communicate with other applications over a network Companies are using Web services to offer improved customer service and reduce costs

Web Site Development Tools

DreamWeaver Macromedia now Adobe Part of suite (Flash, Fireworks, Freehand) Visual Studio .NET Microsoft integrated development environment Web sites, web apps, web services

IBM WebSphere Commerce Professional Edition

Set of software components that provides software suitable for midsize to large businesses Includes:
Catalog templates Setup wizards Advanced catalog tools

Connects to DB2 or Oracle

Microsoft Commerce Server 2002

Allows businesses to sell products or services on the Web using the following tools:
User profiling and management Transaction processing Product and service management Target audience marketing

Provides many predefined reports for analyzing site activities and product sales data

Other Electronic Commerce Software

Customer Relationship Management Software Supply Chain Management Software Content Management Software Knowledge Management Software

References
Schneider, G (2007). Electronic Commerce. Thomson Learning. Chapter 8 and 9 Jelassi and Enders (2005) Strategies for E. Business Creating Value through Electronic and Mobile Commerce Concepts and Cases, Prentice-Hall Appendix Papazoglou, M. & Ribbers P. (2006) e-Business: organizational and technical foundations, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester. Chapter 6 Lawrence, E., Newton, S., Corbitt, B., Braithwaite, R. And Parker, C. (2002) Technology of Internet Business. John Wiley and Sons, Milton. Chapter 5 pp 7579