Slide 3.

Chapter 3
Managing digital business
infrastructure

Lecturer: Nguyen Van Dung Ph.D.

Slides are based on slides accompanied the book “Digital Business and
e-commerce management strategy, implementation and practice”, with
improvement from the lecturer
David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Learning Outcomes

• Outline the hardware and software

technologies used to build an e-business
infrastructure within an organization and with
its partners

• Outline the hardware and software

requirements necessary to enable employee
access to the Internet and hosting of e-
commerce services.

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Management Issues

• What are the practical risks to the

organization of failure to manage e-commerce
infrastructure adequately?

• How should staff access to the Internet

be managed?

• How should we evaluate the relevance of web

services and open source software?

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Digital business infrastructure

• Digital business infrastructure: the combination of
hardware such as servers and client desktop computers
and mobile devices, the network used to link this
hardware and the software applications used to deliver
services to workers within the business and also to its
partners and customers.
• Infrastructure also includes the architecture of the
networks, hardware and software and where it is located.
• Finally, infrastructure can also be considered to include the
methods for publishing data and documents accessed
through applications.
• A key decision with managing this infrastructure is which
elements are located within the company and which are
managed externally

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Table 3.1 Key management issues of e-business infrastructure

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Table 3.1 Key management issues of e-business infrastructure (Continued)

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Activity 3.1
Infrastructure Risk Assessment
• Make a list of the potential problems for
customers of an online retailer
• 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 website that can be related
to network, hardware and software failures or
problems with data quality.

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Typical Problems

• Website communications too slow

• Website not available

• Bugs on site through pages being unavailable

or information typed in forms not being
executed

• Ordered products not delivered on time

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Typical Problems (Continued)

• 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.

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Supporting the growing range of digital business technology platforms

• Desktop, laptop, and notebook platforms

• Desktop browser-based platform
• Desktop apps
• Email platforms
• Feed-based and API data exchange platforms
• Video-marketing platforms
• Mobile phone and tablet platforms:
• Video-marketing platforms
• Mobile-based apps
• Other hardwares
– Gaming platforms
– Indoor and outdoor kiosk-type apps
– Interactive signage
David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is an exciting concept which can
help companies improve their customer experience.
Blends real-world digital data captured typically with a
digital camera in a webcam or mobile phone to create a
browser-based digital representation or experience
mimicking that of the real world

Video: Augmented Reality Examples - 5 Cool Ways

Companies Use AR Right Now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07D1scMvZOY
Augmented Reality - Explained by Common Craft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-A1l4Jn6EY

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Digital business infrastructure components

• Figure 3.3 summarizes how the different components of
digital business architecture relate to each other
• Example: an employee who needs to book a holiday will
access a specific human resources application or program
that has been created to enable the holiday to be booked
(Level I in Figure 3.3 ).
• This application will enable a holiday request to be
entered and will forward the application to the employee’s
manager and the human resources department for
approval.
• To access the application, the employee will use a web
browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla
Firefox or Google Chrome using an operating system such
as Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X (Level II).
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Digital business infrastructure components

• This systems software will then request transfer of the
information about the holiday request across a network or
transport layer (Level III).
• The information will then be stored in computer memory
(RAM) or in long- term magnetic storage on a web server
(Level IV).
• The information itself, which makes up the web pages or
content viewed by the employee, and the data about
their holiday request are shown as a separate layer (Level
V in Figure 3.3 ), although it could be argued that this is
the first or second level in an e-business architecture.

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Figure 3.1 A five-layer model of e-business infrastructure

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Activity 3.2
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 website being loaded.

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
Slide 3.18

Internet
service
provider
(ISP):
A provider
providing
home or
business users
with a
connection to
access the
Internet. They
can also host
web- based
applications.

Physical and network infrastructure components of the Internet (Levels IV

Figure 3.2
and III in Figure 3.1)
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Management issues in creating a new digital service

• Domain name selection

• Selection of hosting services

• Selection of SaaS (Software as a Service)

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Domain name selection

• Domain name: the address of the web server

• http://www.domain-name.extension/filename.html

• Extensions:
• generic top-level domain
- .com
- .org
- .mobi
- .net
• country-code top-level domain
- .co.uk
- .tr, .de, .fr, .it
- .edu.tr, ac.uk
- org.tr
David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Issues related to domain name

• URL – Uniform Resource Locators

- A web address used to locate a web page on a
web server

- URL strategy

- URL components

• Domain name registration

• Selecting hosting providers

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Activity 3.3

• Find domain providers in Vietnam and the

world. How much is a domain?

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Managing digital business applications infrastructure

(a) Fragmented applications infrastructure, (b) integrated applications

Figure 3.17
infrastructure
Source: Adapted from Hasselbring (2000)

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Managing digital business applications infrastructure (con’t)

(a) Fragmented applications infrastructure, (b) integrated applications

Figure 3.17
infrastructure (Continued)
Source: Adapted from Hasselbring (2000)
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Managing digital business applications infrastructure (con’t)

Enterprise resource
planning (ERP)
applications:
Software providing
integrated functions
for major business
functions such as
production,
distribution, sales,
finance and human
resources
management

Figure 3.18 Differing use of applications at levels of management within companies

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Managing digital business applications infrastructure (con’t)

Figure 3.19 Elements of e-business infrastructure that require management

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Web Services and SaaS

• Web services: Business applications and software
services are provided through Internet and web protocols
with the application managed on a separate server from
where it is accessed through a web browser on an end-
user’s computer.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): Hardware used to
provide support for end-user applications is outsourced
and paid for according to level of usage. The hardware
infrastructure used includes servers and networks.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service): Provision of software
services for application design, development, data
storage, testing and hosting together with messaging
tools for collaboration on the development project

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Web Services and Software as a Service (SaaS)

• Benefits of web services
- Lower initial cost & lower maintenance cost
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Ready to use
- High adoption
- Convenience of upgrade
- Integration

• Challenges of deploying Saas

- Dependence on a third party to deliver services
- Downtime or poor availability if the network connection or
server hosting the application or server fails
- Lower performance than a local database
- Reduce data security
• Web 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
https://websolutions.com.vn/cong-nghe-web-la-gi-cac-phien-ban-
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Managing IT resources
• Cloud Computing: The use of distributed storage and
processing on servers connected by the Internet, typically
provided as software or data storage as a subscription
service provided by other companies

• Virtualisation: The indirect provision of technology services

through another resource (abstraction). Essentially one
computer is using its processing and storage capacity to
do the work of another.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBI31dmqSX0

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Managing service quality

Issues in ISP and hosting

•Speed of access, bandwidth

•Availability: an indication of how easy it is for a user to

connect to it

•Service level agreements: A contractual specification of

service standards a contractor must meet

•Security

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Managing internal digital communications

Intranet applications

Extranet applications

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Managing internal digital communications

Intranet applications
Benefits:
• Reduced product life cycles
• Reduced costs through higher productivity, and
savings on hard copy
• Better customer service – responsive and
personalised support with staff accessing
customers over the web
• Distribution of information through remote offi ces
nationally or globally
• Staff phone directories
• Staff procedures or quality manuals
• Information for agents such as product specifi
cations, current list and discounted prices
• Staff bulletin or newsletter
• Training courses
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Managing internal digital communications

Extranet applications
Benefits:
• Information sharing in secure environment
• Cost reduction
• Order processing and distribution
• Customer service
Issues to be considered:
•Are the levels of usage sufficient
•Is it effective and efficient
•Who has ownership of the extranet
•What are the levels of service quality
•Is the quality of the information adequate

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Activity 3.3
Overcoming limited use of intranets and extranets in
a B2B company

• A B2B company has found that after an initial

surge of interest in its intranet and extranet,
usage has declined dramatically. The
e-business manager wants to achieve these
aims:
• Increase usage
• Produce more dynamic content
• Encouraging more clients to order (extranet).
• What would you suggest?

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Suggested Answers

• 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

David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Internet-based supplementaries

• IPTV: essential for marketers and ad agencies to learn

how to exploit IPTV in order to reach online audiences

• Voice over IP (VoIP): Voice data is transferred across

the Internet – it enables phone calls to be made over the
Internet

• Widgets: A badge or button incorporated into a site or

social network space by its owner, with content or
services typically served from another site, making
widgets effectively a minisoftware application or web
service
David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Web presentation and data exchange standards

• XML: a metalanguage which allows users to define their

own customized markup languages, especially in order
to display documents on the internet

• Semantic web standards: Interrelated content including

data with defined meaning, enabling better exchange
of information between computers and between people
and computers

• Microformats: A simple set of formats based on XHTML

for describing and exchanging information about
objects, including product and travel reviews, recipes
and event information
David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Open-source software
• Open-source software: is developed collaboratively,
independent of a vendor, by a community of software
developers and users.

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David Chaffey, E-Business & E-Commerce Management, 5th Edition, © Marketing Insights Limited 2012
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Activity 1.1
• Discuss case study “Innovation at Google”
1. Google’s mission
2. Google revenue models
3. Risk factors

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