e-Commerce Architecture

Ashis K. Pani

Business Characteristics Old Vs. New Economy

Old New Conforming to mass needs Local orientation Cost saving through vertical integration Consumer visits location/inspects goods Market infrastructure constrains quick changes Limited choices through predetermined channels Need for individual, customized products Global orientation Flexibility through outsourcing Choice by on-line description Market infrastructure enables quick changes Many choices through multichannels
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Factors limiting businesses to benefit from the traditional EDI

Significant initial investment is needed Restructuring business processes is necessary to fit the EDI requirements and standards Long start-up time is needed Use of Private VANs is necessary High EDI operating cost is needed There are several EDI standards The EDI system is complex to use
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From Traditional to Internet-based EDI

Reasons.
Using the Internet can cut communication cost by over 50%. Using the Internet to exchange EDI transactions is consistent with the growing interest of business in delivering an ever-increasing variety of products and services electronically, particularly through the Web. Internet-based EDI can compliment or replace current EDI systems. Internet tools such as browsers and search engines are very user friendly and most users 8 today know how to use them.

The e-Commerce Matrix

Business Business Consumer Government B2B: B2C: B2G: GM/Ford EDI Amazon, Dell Tender online, Networks eProcurement C2B: Priceline G2B: Online tender C2C: eBay C2G/G2C: Online voting

Consumer Government

G2C: G2G: State Tax returns, government to Central paying traffic government fines
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Why to get involved in e-Commerce

Access to a global market Ability to provide quick and convenient comparison shopping The ability to reach new customers Ability to target consumers more precisely 24X7X365 operations Create more intimate relationships with customers and better customer service Increased efficiency of operation Ability to convey more accurate product and services information
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Business issues of e-Commerce

Questions that businesses ask to any new idea How does it fit with our strategy? Should our strategy change? What does this mean to our competitive situation? Do we expect in the short term or this is a long term investment? How much will it cost? What do we expect to accomplish? How will we measure the success? How does this effect our sales channels, our partners, our suppliers? 12

e-Commerce Architecture and Infrastructure A component is a modular unit of functionality, accessed through defined interfaces. Infrastructure describes and characterizes the main components that support an e-Business. Architecture covers not only the components, but the way these components are structured and the way they interact with each other.
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Three-tiered client/server system

Back-End Tier

Web Server

Commerce Server

Middle Tier

I*net

Web client

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Three-tiered client/server system

Service system

Backend system

Web Server

Application Server

Internet Database

Firewall

Intranet (Secure)

Client side

Server side

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Multi-Tier Site Architecture

User
Demilitarized zone (DMZ) Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3

FW
2

FW
3

Internet

R FW

FW Firewall R router

Load Balancer LAN 1 LAN 2

Web Server

Commerce Server LAN 4

Database Server (e.g., mainframe)

LAN 3

Why e-Commerce site is structured in Layers

To improve Systems Functionality Performance Scalability and Reliability

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Putting your business online

Register a Web Address (Domain name) How much it cost?

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What constitutes a good domain name? A great domain name is a critical branding opportunity and markets itself Make it memorable
e.g. Amazon.com is much catchier than booksonline.com

Describe your business

e.g. Flowers.com works perfectly for a florist

Keep it short
e.g. cdnow.com works better than onlinecdstore.com

Choose an intuitive name

e.g. goodcoffee.com or javadelights.com

Make it easy to pronounce and hard to misspell

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Build a web site that serves your business

Establish your Web identity Find the right online home Build an attractive storefront Secure your site Arrange payment services Promote your web site
Get a right domain name or web address Select an ISP to host your site Build an user-friendly site Let customers know they can trust you Make it easy for customers to pay you Let the world know about your site
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Components of an e-Commerce Architecture

Web Clients Web Server Commerce server software Connectivity tools Back-end systems
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Web Client
Mosaic Netscape Navigator (25%)
20 Mb, free, JavaScript, Quality Feedback Agent (QFA)

Internet Explorer (73%)

60 Mb, free, JavaScript, ECMAScript

Opera
1 Mb, no JavaScript, free

Lynx (a text only browser for UNIX and VMS users)

500 Kb, no JavaScript, Mobile devices, Impaired people
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Web Server
Market Share for Top Servers Across All Domains by June 2010 survey received responses from 206,956,723 sites. (www.netcraft.co.uk)
Server Apache Microsoft-IIS Google nginx
June

2010 111,792,321 53,865,345 15,375,950 11,264,229

Percent 54.02 26.03 7.43 5.44

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Choosing the Right Server

Your Own Web Server Your Server in a Server Firm (co-locating)
MacUSA.net, webacres.com, in-command.com

Web Hosts (a tenant in a server) A source for locating a suitable Web host www.budgetweb.com Free Public Server America Online, Compuserve, Geocities, Angelfire

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Web Server Elements

Web Server is combination of H/W, OS, Networking S/W, and HTTP server

HTTP Server

TCP/IP

Operating System

Hardware Processors, disks, network interface, etc.

Commerce Server
The Storefront Implementation Tools Product administration, Inventory tracking Purchase order generation, Credit card verification Registering visitors, search tools Commerce Management Tools Content management (Vignette), Replication and Clustering Site usage statistics and remote administration. Back-end Integration Tools 51

1. 2.

Provides all key commodity e-commerce components, such as shopping cart management, product catalogs and settlement processes required for B2B and B2C e-commerce. Provides a Web 2.0 rich Internet application (RIA) customer experience with shopping tools, and the ability to leverage user-generated content, such as product reviews, wikis, blogs and Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Leverages external Web services (e.g., Google Maps, Google Analytics and product reviews) and internal Web services (such as fulfillment systems, ERP or call-center-based Web services) to complete the customer experience. Integrates with other points of interaction, especially those that improve and grow quickly, such as mobile smartphones and Web-capable phones. Supports multiple forms of payment options for B2B and B2C sales. Provides product/service recommendations in real time. Enables improvements to site search and external search engine discovery (for example, Google, Bing, MSN and Yahoo). Enables personalization of the overall online experience. Offers appropriate ownership models, such as licensed software, Web hosting services, software as a service (SaaS), outsourcing and open-source software (OSS).
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3.

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10. Has a large, deep set of technology and service partners.

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Connectivity Tools
Designed to push and pull data from Web/Commerce server to back-end system

Back-end System
Relational data bases (Oracle, IBMs DB2, Microsofts SQL) ERP systems (SAP and PeopleSoft) Transaction-based system (MQSeries)

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Implementation Strategies
In planning e-commerce, there are five processes to consider: Project design Site development, Content development Software development and integration Deployment Long-term operations In each phase, it may be appropriate to do the work in house or outsource it.

Gaining Competitive Advantage

Vision Statement Goals (A goal is a measurable account what you want) Strategies (strategy is a technique for achieving your goal)
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Case I: B2B Auction System for XYZ

Client : A medium size Investment Banking firm The system proposes to create an Internet based platform for trading Financial Instruments for the company with other entities Auction will be the main mode of trading Internet based trading seen as more efficient because of superior price discovery in comparison to existing mode like telephone The system has two components
Main website for web-community Auction site (Trading platform) for members

Case I: Technology
Web Server Apache Java Servlet/JSP Engine Jakarta-Tomcat Database Oracle 8i Content Managemnt Website Director Search Engine DTSearch News Feed Siteware (Screaming Media Inc.) App Server Weblogic

Case I: Technology
Software Products
Application ServerBEA WebLogic 6.0

Other Interfaces
Security (128-bit SSL) VeriSign Credit Card Verification Cyber Cash Swap Calculator Polypath

Development Tools
Web authoring Analysis and Design Dream Weaver 3.0 Rational Rose 2000

Architecture
Other functions (Registration, Auction setup etc.) HTTPS

JSP/HTML

Java Servlet

Session Bean

Entity Bean

Oracle 8i

RMI over HTTPS Trading Desk

Auction Engine (Java RMI Server)

Shared Memory
Serial Device

T&T Feed

Socket Graphs: Indexes

Socket Server (C)

Parser (C)

Daemon Proc (C)

Bidders Browser

J2EE Server (Weblogic 6.0)

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Case II: B2B eMarketing System for XYZ

Client : A big size steel industry The system proposes to create an Internet based platform for trading steel Internet based trading and financing seen as more efficient because of ease of fast communication The system consists of
Trader registration (buyer and supplier) Sales Order Entry Financing

Case II: Technology

Software Products --Web Server
Application Server Database

Netscape
iPlanet 6.0 Oracle8i

Other Interfaces
Security (128-bit SSL) VeriSign Bank Interface XML

Development Tools
Web authoring Analysis and Design Dream Weaver 3.0 Rational Rose 2000

Case II: Architecture

Registration Setup HTTP

JSP/HTML Java Servlet Session Bean Entity Bean

Oracle 8i

XML Messaging
Any future Feed Trading Desk

Browser

J2EE Server (iPlanet 6.0)

Case III: eConsultancy System for XYZ

Client : A big size Law Firm The system proposes to create an Internet based platform for online registration consulatncy Internet based consultancy seen as more efficient The system consists of
Registration Subscription to publications Consultancy

Case III: Technology

Software Products
Database MS SQL Server6.0

Other Interfaces
Security (128-bit SSL) VeriSign

Development Tools
Web authoring Analysis and Design Dream Weaver 3.0 Rational Rose 2000

Web Server

MS IIS

Case III: Architecture

Registration Setup

ASP/HTML MS SQL Server

Credit Card Interface

Browser

IIS

Thank you

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