Web Hosting and E- E-Business

Business Software 9. Hosting & Software

 OrangeHRM

Hardware
Resilient hardware
Software
● Redundant Database
○ HDD, RAM Network
○ Power, Network People
○ Server

Web Server
FTP Server
Mail Server
DB Server Application Server
 Web Hosting Alternatives

Self-hosting (large/tech companies)

– Running servers in-house
– Expertise, resources ...

Third-party Web-hosting service providers

• Commerce service providers (CSPs)
– Provide Internet access (ISP) and Web-hosting
– Other Web server management software & services
• Managed service providers (MSPs)
• Application service providers (ASPs vs. SaaS)
• ... 3
3rd Party Web Hosting ...

4
 • Virtualization
– Hardware
Virtualization – Machine!
• Software

• 1 Powerful Computer • Fast access

– 128 core CPU, 1 TB RAM …. • Scalable/growable
– Multiple computer
– Divide to multiple Virtual Machine (VM/VPS)
• Multiple Powerful Computer (Cloud)
– Divide to multiple VMs

VM
 3rd Party Web Hosting ...

• Co-location service
– Rents physical space to client
– Service provider-
• network bandwidth, power ... 6
ocation

Vs. Self
Hosting RDS Canvas
7
Management …

Software

Hardware

Database

Network

People
8
Choosing a Hosting Service

• Business Size
?
– Web traffic
– Transaction volume
• Budget
• Scalable
• IT Resource & Expertise
• Time (available)

Resource- Expertise 9
 Basic Functions of
eCommerce
Host Software

10
 Transaction Processing
More on Electronics Payment Processing Chapter

11
 Custom vs. Ent. Software

Advanced Functions of FOSS vs.

vs. Ecommerce
Software
e-Commerce Software COTS Modules

• Search, Segmentation …
• Integration among
– Software- operations/departments
– Technique

• Databases
– Custom Software
• Middleware software
– COTS, Internal API use ? CRM
• APIs
– Custom Software NSU
– Web APIs, Web Services Acc
SMS
 Drupal
Cost RDS
Time Moodle
Reliability
Capabilities Canvas
Sustainable

COTS Custom

RMG Tailor RMG

FOSS
 Components

3-Piece

COTS Custom FOSS

RMG Tailor RMG

BI > Model > Data Warehouse > DBMS
• Structured data to create business strategy/rules
• Database Management System (DBMS)
– Examples: Access, IBM DB2, SQL Server, Oracle
• BI Application- Business user interface

15
Customers
• Ecommerce
– CRM
• BI
• BI
 Databases (cont’d.)

• Complexity leads to high cost, lower quality

– Manageable complex

• Better to have one database serving two sales

functions (online and in-store retail)
– Eliminates errors, keep updated!
• If inventory and product databases exist

Distributed
Information Systems 17
 Integration using Middleware
• Example scenario
– Sales and inventory data (e-commerce)
• Transmits to accounting and inventory software
• Interoperability
– Making information systems work together
– Important goal when installing middleware

Ecommerce
Database Middleware API

M. Vendors- BEA Systems,

Broadvision, Digital River,
IBM Tivoli Systems

COTS Custom FOSS

RMG Tailor RMG

 Enterprise Application Integration
Using EDI/API
• Interconnects organization’s business logic
– Accounting entry from ecommerce software gets
posted in accounting software
– Various program data formats differ
• Standardize- increasingly using XML data feeds

21
VAN vs. Direct Connection

23
Integration with Enterprise Systems

ERP system integration with EDI, VAN

How can you integrate two different system?
24
 Web Services- API
• Set of software and technologies allowing computers to
use the Web to interact with each other directly
– Without humans interactions
– Offer improved customer service, reduced costs
• Application Program(ming) Interface (API)
• Web APIs

25
Ecommerce
Software
 How Web services work
• Key element
– Programmers write software accessing business application
logic units without knowing details
• Machine-to-machine communication (Soft 2 Soft)
– Allows programs to communicate, accomplish transaction
processing, and perform other business tasks
• Written in different languages- C, HTML, Java
• on different platforms-
• More advanced example
– Purchasing software obtain vendor price information
– Intelligent Agent- create purchase orders
– Purchasing agent (manual) review, authorizes, submit &
track order
Web Services (cont’d.) 27
 Find SSC Result by Mobile SMS

SSC/Dakhil <Space> First 3 letters of your board

name <Space> Your Roll Number <Space> 2020 and
then send to 16222.

Software (OrangeHRM)

● Connect using an biometric attendance

system
○ System sends data to the software
Daraz gets delivery update
in a particular format
from shipping partners.
○ Software records data to users
- Order #, Comment,
attendance
Delivery Status
 Why so many
SOAP specifications standards?
Vs. http
• Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP)
– How to send marked up data
from one software application
to another across a network

• Web Services Description

Language (WSDL)
– Describes logical units
characteristics making up
specific Web services
Web Services (cont’d.) 29
 REST API and RESTful design

• Representational State Transfer (REST) API

– Incorporates widely used (standard) technology
• HTTP (data transfer), JSON (data format)
• Deployment is easy Price Update

– Low cost, fast and reliable

• RESTful design (RESTful applications)
– Atom Publishing Protocol/RSS
• Most widely used RESTful application
• Simplifying blog publishing process
– Making its functions available as a Web service
– Allowing other sites to interact with blog content

Web Services (cont’d.) 30

Commerce Service Providers (CSP)
Circa 2005
• Use of service provider hosting services ++
– Shifts staffing and other resource burden
• Low cost, Expert Support, Reliable service
– Spread costs over several “renters” hosted
– Centralized management, configuration, support
– Reliable- storms and
power outages!
• Value Added Service
– Free/low cost software
– Domain buy ...

32
Yahoo! Merchant Services page

33
 • Business Size
– Web traffic
– Transaction volume
• Budget
• Scalable
• IT Resource & Expertise
• Time (available)

Resource- Expertise 34
 Mall-Style/Packaged CSP
Store @fb, @Daraz, @Bikroy, @Shopify, @FOSS-Self

• Cost
– Low monthly fee, One-time setup fees
– Percentage of (or fixed) amount for each transaction
• Provides:
– Internet connection, Web site creation tools
• Online store design tools and storefront templates
– Easy interface, Web page-generation, maintenance
– Shopping cart software capabilities
– Payment processing services
– Data Mining
• Problematic Web pages
• Customer segments, recommendations 35
Expenses
… A Small Web Business
Circa
2010
@US

Approximate costs to put a small store online

36
 Estimated costs for hosting a Web site
• Self Hosting
– Setup | $XXXX to $XX,XXXX (one time) Recurring annual
costs: about half that
– Recurring (per year) setup- operate,
• Approx 50% of setup cost maintain, and improve

• Internet connection, Secure server room

• Technicians (maintain equipment)
– Annual Average costs: $XXX to $XXX

• Larger sites~ difficult to estimate

– Consider your configuration
• Outsources vs. self ...
– Largest cost element- Integrating
Estimating Operating Expenses for a Small Web Business (cont’d.) 37
Website Development- Software
• Ecommerce Software Req.
– Content Management Software (CMS)
– Database (Store catalog information, transaction)
– Integrate with existing inventory and Enterprise system

• Three midrange ecommerce systems- COTS

– WebSphere Commerce Suite by IBM
– Commerce Server by Microsoft
– Intershop Enfinity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitecore_Commerce_Server
Electronic Commerce Software for Midsize to Large Businesses 38
 • Catalog
• Shopping carts
Software Features • Transaction processing

Intershop Enfinity IBM WebSphere

COTS Vs.
Connect to existing back- Connect to existing Standard/IBM FOSS?
end/databases back-end/databases

Catalog/data management Web based administration

Storefront (design) templates Can administer several stores through
Web based management interface

FOSS+
Dev. Team =
Search Search Custom
Inventory management Modular- Catalog templates,
Discount rules, e-mail, secure advanced catalog
transactions, Site and E-mail notifications, Secure
customer reports transaction, Promotions and
discounting
Shipment tracking
Supports B2B and B2C

Customized user experience

39
Microsoft Commerce Server ?
 Ecommerce Software for Large
Businesses
• Larger business requirements:
– Same advanced capabilities as midsize firms
– Ability to handle higher transaction loads
– Extensive support for B2B commerce
• Enterprise (class) software
– Serving multiple locations, Different Departments
– Interacts with wide variety of existing systems
– Several computers, Web server system, firewalls
• Solutions:
– IBM WebSphere Commerce Enterprise,
– Oracle E-Business Suite
40
 41
Typical enterprise-class e-commerce architecture
 CRM Software
• Idea- Customer satisfaction/support
– Customization, profit, retention (constant contact)
• CRM-BI
– Data from operations software
– Data reg. customer interactions
– Analyze
– ...

• Basic CRM- sell more

goods or services
• Advanced CRM-
positive customer
experiences > R. 42
 Customer Relationship Management
Software (cont’d.) Circa 2010

• CRM Application Provider

– Oracle Siebel CRM Applications (#1)
– SAP CRM: Another vendor
– Salesforce.com (SaaS)

• 1996 to 2000
– Tool for identifying changing customer preferences Bad
experience with millions of dollars spent
• Analyze customer- Should a customer buy this ...
• Now
– Solve smaller, more specific problems
• Behavior based
• Popular target: call center operations 43
44
 B2B
SCM Software Procurement
Logistics
Inventory

• Supply chain management (SCM) software

– Coordinate planning and operations with partners
– Originally developed for manufacturing firms
• Manage inventory purchases, manufacturing processes

• SCM planning software Two function types

– Develops coordinated demand forecasts
• Uses information from each supply chain participant
• SCM execution software
– Helps with warehouse and transportation
management
45
 SCM Software (cont’d.)
Circa 2010

• JDA Software- Originally managed retail order entry

and sales side of inventory control
• Cost of SCM software implementations ~ $10 million
– Varies tremendously

• Challenges
– Some technology is still
maturing
– Expertise
• Particularly for SME
– Integration w/existing
systems
46
 Content Management Software
• Controls large amounts of
– Text, Graphics, Other Media files
– Support different devices
• Important because of increase use
– smart phones, netbooks, ipad
– apps, mobile websites

• Content management maintenance activity

– Add new data
– Update data

47
 Content Management Software ...

• IBM, SAP, Oracle (Enterprise Class Vendors)

– Components in other Enterprise Applications
• EMC and Open Text Corporation
– Provide stand-alone CMS
• Software costs (vs. FOSS)
– Between $100,000 and $500,000 (Circa 2010)
– Customization, configuration, implementation
• May add three or four times the cost of software
• Management Consulting firm

COTS vs. FOSS 48

Implementation Partner
 Knowledge Management Software

Systems managing knowledge itself rather than

documentary representations of that knowledge
• Four main tasks Major software vendors:
– IBM, Microsoft SharePoint,
Collect and organize information BMC Software,
– Share information among users CustomerVision
– Enhance ability of users to collaborate
– Preserve knowledge gained through information use
• Tools: Electronic documents, scanned paper
documents, e-mail messages, Web pages
• Includes powerful search tools
– Use proprietary semantic, statistical algorithms
50
???
 Learning Objectives

• Finding and evaluating Web-hosting services

• Basic functions of electronic commerce software
• Advanced functions of electronic commerce
software
• Electronic commerce software for small and midsize
businesses
• Electronic commerce software for midsize to large
businesses
• Electronic commerce software for large businesses
that have an existing information technology
infrastructure
52
Components based website

Vs. Single Components (Page)

 Page-based Vs.
Component-based systems
• Page-based
application • Separates presentation
– Return pages
logic from business
generated by scripts logic
containing rules • Larger businesses!
• Present data on Web • Logic component
page with the separate
business logic
– Updating, changing
– Examples for small, system elements much
midsized Web sites easier
(technology)
• Common Web
• Adobe ColdFusion
component-based
• JavaServer Pages
Enterprise Application Integration (cont’d.)
(JSP) technology 54
 SOAP rule sets
• SOAP provides the Messaging Protocol layer of a web
services protocol stack for web services. It is an XML-
based protocol consisting of three parts:
– an envelope, which defines the message structure
and how to process it
– a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of
application-defined datatypes
– a convention for representing procedure calls and
responses

Web Services (cont’d.) 55

 Web Services (cont’d.)
• SOAP application data
– Stored and transmitted in XML format
– Data-providing and data-using partners
• Must agree on which XML implementation to use
• SOAP-based Web services
– Often include quality of service and service level
specifications
– Web services subscriber
• Must work out a detailed agreement with each Web
services provider

E- Business, Ninth Edition 56

???
 Summary
• E-commerce considerations for different size businesses
• Software functions, selection decisions
• Host provider considerations
• Electronic commerce software has several key
elements
• Web services implementations
• Basic CSP and mall-style hosting services
• Electronic commerce software packages
• Midsize and larger businesses need customizable
systems with flexibility
• May include CRM, SCM, and others
E- Business, Ninth Edition 58
 Catalog Display

• Catalog: listing of goods and services

– Stores item information in a database
– Single product may appear in multiple categories
– Use dynamic catalog aides and tools
• Alternative ways to find products
– Search engine

59
 Shopping Cart- Keep track
• Early days- forms-based shopping
• Web: stateless system
– Use cookies, reference links ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping_cart_software 60