E-commerce business technology society Sixth Edition Kenneth C

Chapter 4 Building an E-commerce Web Site Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide

Right-Sizing a Web Site Class Discussion n What are the factors you should take into account when sizing a Web site’s infrastructure? n Why is peak usage an important factor to consider? n What did e. Bay discover from its use of OPERA? n How can operators of smaller sites deal with the right-sizing issue? Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -3

Building an E-commerce Site: A Systematic Approach n Most important management challenges: v. Developing a clear understanding of business objectives v. Knowing how to choose the right technology to achieve those objectives Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -4

Pieces of the Site-Building Puzzle n Main areas where you will need to make decisions: v Human resources and organizational capabilities n Creating team with skill set needed to build and manage a successful site v Hardware v Software v Telecommunications v Site design Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -5

The Systems Development Life Cycle n Methodology for understanding business objectives of a system and designing an appropriate solution n Five major steps: 1. Systems analysis/planning 2. Systems design 3. Building the system 4. Testing 5. Implementation Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -6

Web Site Systems Development Life Cycle Figure 4. 2, Page 208 Copyright © 2010

System Analysis/Planning n Business objectives: v List of capabilities you want your site to have n System functionalities: v List of information system capabilities needed to achieve business objectives n Information requirements: v Information elements that system must produce in order to achieve business objectives Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -8

Table 4. 1, Page 209 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -9

Systems Design: Hardware and Software Platforms n System design specification: v Description of main components of a system and their relationship to one another n Two components of system design: 1. Logical design n Data flow diagrams, processing functions, databases 2. Physical design n Specifies actual physical, software components, models, etc. Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -10

Logical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4. 3 (a), Page 211 Copyright

Physical Design for a Simple Web Site Figure 4. 3 (b), Page 211 Copyright

Build/Host Your Own versus Outsourcing n Outsourcing: hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site n Build own vs. outsourcing: § n Build your own requires team with diverse skill set; choice of software tools; both risks and possible benefits Host own vs. outsourcing Hosting: hosting company responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly fee § Co-location: firm purchases or leases Web server (with control over its operation), but server is located at vendor’s facility § Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -13

Choices in Building and Hosting Figure 4. 4, Page 212 Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Insight on Business Curly Hair and Motor. Mouths: Getting Started on the Cheap Class Discussion n How does a small, niche Web site become profitable? n What is the primary source of income for these kinds of sites? n What benefits are there to starting a business in a recession? Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -15

Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance n Testing v Unit testing v System testing v Acceptance testing n Implementation and maintenance: v Maintenance is ongoing v Maintenance costs: parallel to development costs v Benchmarking Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -16

Factors in Web Site Optimization Figure 4. 7, Page 219 Copyright © 2010 Pearson

Web Site Budgets n From $5, 000 to millions of dollars/year n Components of budget: v. System maintenance v. System development v. Content design & development v. Hardware v. Telecommunications v. Software Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -18

Simple versus Multi-tiered Web Site Architecture n System architecture v Arrangement of software, machinery, and tasks in an information system needed to achieve a specific functionality n Two-tier v Web server and database server n Multi-tier v Web application servers v Backend, legacy databases Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -19

Two-Tier E-commerce Architecture Figure 4. 9(a), Page 221 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Multi-tier E-commerce Architecture Figure 4. 9(b), Page 221 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Web Server Software n Apache v Leading Web server software (47% of market) v Works only with UNIX, Linux OSs n Microsoft’s Internet Information Server (IIS) v Second major Web server software (25% of market) v Windows-based Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -22

Table 4. 3, Page 223 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -23

Site Management Tools n Basic tools v Included in all Web servers v Verify that links on pages are still valid v Identify orphan files n Third-party software and services for advanced site management v Monitor customer purchases, marketing campaign effectiveness, etc. v E. g. Web. Trends Analytics 9, Google Analytics Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -24

Dynamic Page Generation Tools n Dynamic page generation: v Contents of Web page stored as objects in database and fetched when needed Common tools: CGI, ASP, JSP n Advantages n v Lowers menu costs v Permits easy online market segmentation v Enables cost-free price discrimination v Enables Web content management system (WCMS) Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -25

Application Servers n Web application servers: v Provide specific business functionality required for a Web site v Type of middleware n Isolate business applications from Web servers and databases v Single-function applications increasingly being replaced by integrated software tools that combine all functionality needed for e-commerce site Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -26

Table 4. 4, Page 227 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -27

E-commerce Merchant Server Software n Provides basic functionality for online sales v Online catalog n List of products available on Web site v Shopping cart n Allows shoppers to set aside, review, edit selections, and then make purchase v Credit card processing n Typically works in conjunction with shopping cart n Verifies card and puts through credit to company’s account at checkout Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -28

Merchant Server Software Packages Integrated environment with most or all of functionality needed n Key factors in selecting a package n v v v v v Functionality Support for different business models Business process modeling tools Visual site management and reporting Performance and scalability Connectivity to existing business systems Compliance with standards Global and multicultural capability Local sales tax and shipping rules Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -29

Building Your Own E-commerce Site n Options for small firms v. Hosted e-commerce sites, e. g. , Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions n Site building tools n E-commerce templates v. Open-source merchant server software n Enables you to build truly custom site n Requires programmer with expertise, time Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -30

Choosing the Hardware for an E-commerce Site n Hardware platform: v Underlying computing equipment that system uses to achieve e-commerce functionality n Objective: v Enough platform capacity to meet peak demand without wasting money n Important to understand the different factors that affect speed, capacity, and scalability of a site Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -31

Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Demand Side n Demand is the most important factor affecting speed of site n Factors in overall demand: v Number of simultaneous users in peak periods v Nature of customer requests (user profile) v Type of content (dynamic versus static Web pages) v Required security v Number of items in inventory v Number of page requests v Speed of legacy applications Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -32

Table 4. 7, Page 232 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -33

Degradation in Performance as Number of Users Increases—Resource Utilization Figure 4. 11 (a), Page

Degradation in Performance as Number of Users Increases—Number of Connections Figure 4. 11 (b),

The Relationship of Bandwidth to Hits SOURCE: IBM, 2003. Figure 4. 13, Page 236

Right-Sizing Your Hardware Platform: The Supply Side n Scalability: v Ability of site to increase in size as demand warrants n Ways to scale hardware: v Vertically n Increase processing power of individual components v Horizontally n Employ multiple computers to share workload v Improve processing architecture Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -37

Table 4. 8, Page 236 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -38

Vertically Scaling a System Figure 4. 14, Page 237 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education,

Horizontally Scaling a System Figure 4. 15, Page 238 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education,

Table 4. 9, Page 239 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -41

Other E-Commerce Site Tools n Web site design: Basic business considerations v Enabling customers to find and buy what they need n Tools for Web site optimization v Search engine placement n Keywords, page titles n Identify market niches, localize site n Expertise n Links n Search engine ads Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -42

E-commerce Web Site Features that Annoy Customers SOURCE: Based on data from Hostway Corporation’s survey, Consumers’ Pet Peeves about Commercial Web Sites, Hostway Corporation, 2007. Figure 4. 16, Page 240 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -43

Table 4. 10, Page 241 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -44

Tools for Interactivity and Active Content n Web 2. 0 design elements: Widgets, Mashups n CGI (Common Gateway Interface) n ASP (Active Server Pages) n Java, JSP, and Javascript n Active. X and VBScript n Coldfusion Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -45

Insight on Technology Pumping Up the Customer Experience Using AJAX and Flash Class Discussion n What is AJAX? How does it work? n How does AJAX improve on client/server interactivity? n How does Google Maps use AJAX? n What are some alternative technologies to achieve the same results as AJAX? Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -46

Personalization Tools n Personalization v Ability to treat people based on personal qualities and prior history with site n Customization v Ability to change the product to better fit the needs of the customer n Tools to achieve: v Cookies Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -47

The Information Policy Set n Privacy policy v Set of public statements declaring how site will treat customers’ personal information that is gathered by site n Accessibility rules v Set of design objectives that ensure disabled users can affectively access site Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -48

Insight on Society Designing for Accessibility with Web 2. 0 Class Discussion n What is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act? n Why might some merchants be reluctant to make their Web sites accessible to disabled Americans? n How can Web sites be made more accessible? n Should all Web sites be required by law to provide “equivalent alternatives” for visual and sound content? Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 4 -49

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