ISPs for E-Commerce

Nizar R. Mabroukeh, M.Sc., C.S.

mabroukeh@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/mabroukeh


For E-Commerce Short Course
18
th
April, 2000
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Topics to be Covered
Planning
Requirements
Requirements for an ISP
E-Commerce Add-ons for ISPs
Starting the business as an ISP
Advertise
Sell (shopping, checkout, authorization, charge back).
Promote
Surviving the competition
Future Developments
Planning and Requirements
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Business Model
Independent
Software
Vender
Business
Community
New
Products &
Services for the
Business Community
New
Products &
Services for the
Business Community
Trusted
Internet
MarketPlace
Large
Companies
Professionals
Medium
Companies
Small
Companies
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Requirements
Infra-structure

A connection to a larger Internet Provider.

Hardware and Software to provide Internet
Services.
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Connecting To A Larger ISP

ISPs are divided into classes (A, B and C),
according to how many sub-networks they
can support with unique IP addresses.

Example:
AT&T KACST Commercial ISPs Internet Caf
Satellite Leased Line Leased Line
or Submarine or Frame Relay
Fiber Optic
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Connecting To A Larger ISP
Hardware depends on type of connection.
You are connecting your LAN to the larger
provider.
Generally, you will need:
An appropriate Router.
A Gateway, if different types of network.
A Proxy server to cache your link.
A Firewall to protect your LAN from intruders.
May need a leased-line modem or digital modem.


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HW & SW to Provide Internet

You will providing for 3 types of
customers:
Your local users on your LAN (directly
connected to the servers)
Dial-up users (using Modem)
Corporate accounts (Leased-lines, VPNs,
Frame-Relayetc.), like Internet Cafs and
Intranet solutions to companies.
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HW & SW to Provide Internet
For the 3 different types you will need:
A machine for each of the following
applications:
Web Server: Ex. Microsoft Internet Information
Server (MIIS), Apache server (for Linux)

Proxy Server: Ex. Netscape Proxy Server

E-Mail Server: Ex. Microsoft Exchange.

Firewall: to protect your LAN from the last 2 types
of customers. Ex.: SQUID, ipchains
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Dial-up Customers HW

For dial-up customers you will need a pool of
modems (a modem for every phone line you
have).
A customer dials your service using a pilot
number which will connect him to the first
available line from the pool.
Thus you need a Port Master and a RAS (Remote
Access Server).
User Authentication follows the OS on the RAS.
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Corporate Accounts HW

Leased-line modem, Frame-Relay switchs,
VPN routersetc. depending on connection
type.
Most importantly you will need to have a
pool of vacant and static IP addresses to
provide.

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Tuning to E-Commerce

Online Catalogue
Shopping Cart
Secure Servers and SSL
Payment Gateways
Commerce Service Providers (CSP)


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Mall Services
Business Owner
Mall BackOffice Mall front
Electronic Mall
Administration
Internet
Secure eCommerce Services & Hosting
Browse
Mall
Services
Collect
Services
(shopping
basket)
Order
$$$
Service Manager
Mall
Manager
Business
Owners
Manager
Mall Front
Manager
Reports
&
Statistics
Advertisers
Extended
Services
Financial
Institution
Extended
Services
Secure access
Secure access
Secure access
(DID)
Classified
Ads
Customer
Mall Owner Secure access
(DID)
Remote
Sales
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Mall infrastructure:
Database design and programming
Store test drive
Central Category directory
Global shopping
Global search capability
Mall front:
Advanced shopping cart
Static store policy pages
Multiple payment methods
Mall Backoffice:
Service manager
Modify, add and delete services
Modify, add and delete templates
Modify, add and delete store
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Mall manager
Fulfill orders
Generate invoices
E-mail confirmation notices automatically
Track open orders
Track and manage accounts receivable
Generate past due notices
Search orders
Search unordered baskets
Payment processing
Customer (store owner) manager
Modify, add or delete customer information
Manage customer passwords
Track account balances
Assign service levels
Set credit limits
Set credit length
Search for customers
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Mall front manager
Modify, add and delete Mall front text
Modify, add and delete Mall front advertisements
Modify, add and delete Mall demo
Graphical Reports and Statistics
Mall front processes
Report on traffic and order analysis by day, week, or year
Report on store sales statistics by item number, rank, time
period
Options
VeriSign Server Set-up (to eliminate spoofing)
Automated Billing System
Staff administrative training

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Store Services
Internet
Purchase
Manager
Business Owner
Electronic Store
Customer
Browse
Catalog
Store
Manage
r
Collect
products
(shoppin
g basket)
Order
$$$
Customer
Manager
Inventory
Manager
Supplier
Shipper
(UPS)
Extended
Services
Secure eCommerce Services & Hosting
Product
Manage
r
Catalog Manager
Extended
Services
Reports &
Statistics
BackOffice Storefront
Financial
Institution
Secure access
(DID)
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Each store is rented from a Community or
Mall by a business
Each business selects the services that best meet
the online requirements of that business
Each store may choose among different services
like:
Home page for advertisement of a business or classified
with contact information
About page
Order information page
How to shop page
Catalog list pages (one level, up to 100)
Product list pages (up to 100 items)
Store specials page
Reporting and statistics
Advanced reporting and statistics
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Central directory search
Advanced shopping basket
Image uploading
Shipping matrix
Tax matrix
Automated order notification
Global specials listing
Generic invoices
Real time payment processing capability
Drop ship supplier order notification
Customer profiling
Store infrastructure
Storefront management facilities
Backoffice administration facilities
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Your Team
Technical Team
Customer Support Team
Sales Team
Marketing and Promotion Team
Billing and Accounting Team (Customer
Care)
Content and Quality of Service Team

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Technical Team
Configures, manages and administers your
connection as well as troubleshooting problems on
the LAN and the Internet setup.

Supports and provides connection to corporate
users.

Responsible for providing a continuous and
smooth link with appropriate bandwidth to your
ISP (Tune the connection).
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Customer Support Team

On-site installation and setup of service for
dial-up users.
Help-Desk service and troubleshooting.
Provides After-Sales service for dial-up
users and small corporate accounts (like
Internet Cafs).
Takes customer notes on service.
Works side-by-side with Technical team.

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Sales Team
SellSellSell
First Contact with customer thus first on-ground
impression about company.
Must be knowledgeable about The Internet in
general and about the companys capabilities.
Promise only what the company can deliver and
deliver what was promised.
Make friends with customers and keep in contact
after closing the deal.
You Better have a sub-team for corporate
accounts.

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Marketing and Promotion Team

Advertise Sell Market Promote.
Marketing is important for continuity of the
company as well as in competition.
Hold promotional campaigns taking chances of
special occasions.
Must have a clear goal (part of the general mission
of the company) on each campaign.
Should be flexible and fluctuant with Competition
(able to compete).
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Billing and Accounting Team
Must be online with customer database

Always on contact and direct arrangement
with Marketing team.

Aware of their limits that might depend on
technical matters of the link.
Ex.: If server cannot keep track of off-peak hours,
we cannot sell off-peak accounts.
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Content and Quality of Service Team
They provide content to the users.
Design your webpage and keep it up to date.
Keep users attracted and entertained:
Hold newgroups discussions.
Link people together: Chatting Services, small
tutorials, free personal websites for users
Link your users to the government or people
who interest them.
Provide E-Commerce.

You Have All The Gadgets

Fully Equipped and ready.

Lets Hit The Market

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Start Your Business
After you have decided on your company mission,
you can advertise on the grounds of this mission.
Sell:
In-door sales: For walk-in customers
Out-door sales: Target a special class or group of
people or industry sector, collect contacts, call them on
the phone and visit them.
Market and Promote (again, have clear goals and
targets)


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Important Points for Sales
Internet Customers are usually interested in:
Price vs. quality of service.
Customer Support (after-sales service).
On-call Tech. Service.
Trial accounts.
Your Bandwidth and your ISP.
If I am a customer, I would ask you to convince
me to buy from you and not other companies. This
is when your content comes into action.

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Online Catalogue

Navigation

The shopping cart

Check-out

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Payment and Order Processing
What is involved in credit card processing?
Authorisation.
Capture.
Charge back.
Other payment methods:
Fax.
Telephone Order.
Micro-payments.
Electronic cheques.
Surviving The Competition
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Ensure Continuity
Try as much as possible to keep your
configuration tuned for best performance.
If you need more bandwidth get more.
If you need more phone lines get more.
You might need to install new modems to keep up with
technology that youre customers are using, do it.
Provide Content and Entertainment as mentioned
before.
Make a survey about your service every now and
then by calling customers and asking them (keep
up quality of service).

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Ensure Continuity

Get rid of nosey customers, naggers,
hackers, and hot shots ! HOW?

Make friends with your loyal customers,
arrange gatherings.

You can also promote and market for your
new services in these gatherings.

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Future Development

The Internet is growing dramatically
everyday. Thus the emergent need for
development to keep up with technology.
It would be good if you had future plans in
mind since day one of establishing your
company.
Development in hardware and in content.
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Development Team
Establish a team for Research and
Development (R&D).

Give them resources they need: Money,
testing devices, library, research tools

Usually R&D is the most money and time-
consuming department in any company.
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R&D Responsibilities
Should follow up on new technologies and
services.
Should be able to carry out experimentation and
testing on new technologies and provide
management with consultation and support in
futuristic plans.
Should be able to come out with new ideas and
plans to enhance the performance of employees,
the network and the system as a whole.


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Summary
We have seen the basic steps one needs to start his
business as an ISP.
To be a successful ISP keep in mind the following
points:
Good planning (the internet provides a lot of services
and there is a lot of technology involved, you might get
lost).
Robust connection to your ISP and enough resources.
Quality of service.
A lot of customer care.
The competition is wild !
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Points to Ponder:


Globalization: What is your part in it? And
where is your contribution to it?