Download E-business infrastructure components

E-Business
Infrastructure
PRESENTED BY IKA NOVITA DEWI, MCS
Definition
E-business infrastructure: The architecture of hardware, software, content and data used to
deliver e-business services to employees, customers and partners
infrastructure can also be considered to include the methods for publishing data and
documents accessed through e-business applications
A key decision with managing this infrastructure is which elements are located within the
company and which are managed externally as third-party managed applications, data servers
and networks
E-business infrastructure components
Internet technology
The Internet refers to the physical network that links computers across the globe. It consists of
the infrastructure of network servers and communication links between them that are used to
hold and transport information between the client computers and web servers
Client/server : The client/server architecture consists of client computers, such as PCs, sharing
resources such as a database stored on a more powerful server computer.
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.
Backbones High-speed
communications links used to
enable Internet communications
across a country and internationally.
Physical and network infrastructure components of the Internet
Hosting of web sites and e-business
services
Hosting provider : A service provider that manages the server used to host an organization web
site and its connection to the Internet backbones.
For example: Rackspace describe itself as ‘Europe’s fastest growing hosting company
Intranets Applications
Intranets are used extensively for supporting sell-side e-commerce from within the marketing
function
A marketing intranet has the following advantages:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Reduced product lifecycles – as information on product development and marketing
campaigns is rationalized we can get products to market faster
Reduced costs through higher productivity, and savings on hard copy
Better customer service – responsive and personalized support with staff accessing customers over the
web
◦ Distribution of information through remote offices nationally or globally
Intranets are also used for internal marketing communications since they can include the
following types of information:
o Staff phone directories
o Staff procedures or quality manuals
o Information for agents such as product specifications, current list and discounted prices,
competitor information, factory schedules, and stocking levels, all of which normally have
to be updated frequently and can be costly
o Staff bulletin or newsletter
o Training courses
Some less common intranet applications which involve internal communications:
o Employee incentive scheme
o Text messaging
o Holiday booking
o Resource booking
o News screen
o Integrated external resources
Extranet applications
Any network connected to another network for the purpose of sharing information and data
An extranet is created when two businesses connect their respective intranets for business
communication and transactions
Business benefits of an extranet:
o Information sharing in secure environment
o Cost reduction
o Order processing and distribution
o Customer service
Encouraging use of intranets and extranets
The information made available to third parties
over the Internet and extranet is partitioned by
another firewall using what is referred to as the
‘demilitarized zone’ (DMZ). Corporate data on the
intranet are then mounted on other servers inside
the company
Web technology
World Wide Web (WWW)  The most common technique for publishing information on the
Internet. It is accessed through web browsers which display web pages of embedded graphics
and HTML/XML-encoded text
The combination of web browsers and HTML that has proved so successful in establishing
widespread business use of the Internet.
o easy to use
o Interactivity
o provide a graphical environment supporting multimedia
o standardization of tools and growth in demand
o Flexibility in the style of designs and tailoring
Web browsers and servers
Web browsers
Browsers such as Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer provide an easy method of
accessing and viewing information stored as web documents on different servers
Web servers
Store and present the web pages accessed by web browsers.
Web application server
A collection of software processes which is accessed by a standard programming interface (API)
of a web application framework to serve dynamic website functionality in response to requests
received from browsers. They are designed to manage multiple requests from multiple users
and will provide load-balancing to support high volumes of usage.
Transaction log files : A webserver file that records all page
requests
Web analytics system :
Information on visitor volumes,
sources and pages visited are
analysed through web analytics
systems
Information exchange between a web browser and a web server
Internet-access software applications
Applications of different Internet tools:
Applications of different Internet tools:
Applications of different Internet tools:
Networking standards
TCP/IP : The Transmission Control Protocol is a transport layer protocol that moves data
between applications. The Internet Protocol is a network layer protocol that moves data
between host computers
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) : is a standard which defines the way information is
transmitted across the Internet between web browsers and web servers
Uniform resource locators (URLs) : A web address used to locate a web page on a web server
Web presentation and data exchange
standards
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) : A standard web-page presentation format used to define
the text and layout of web pages. HTML files usually have the extension .HTML or .HTM
XML or eXtensible Markup Language : Standard for transferring structured data, unlike HTML
which is purely presentational
Assignment
Make a list of the potential technology problems faced by customers of an online retailer.
You should consider problems faced by users of e-business applications which are either internal
or external to the organization.