ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT (COM350)

Week 2 This Weeks Topic –THE INTERNET & WEB CONCEPTS

PUTTS LAW: Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand.

THE INTERNET & WEB CONCEPTS

THE INTERNET Can be described as: A collection of thousands of individual networks connected and co-operating together for the purpose of information communication.

THE INTERNET The Internet Society supports: The Internet Activities Board (IAB) which handles architectural issues. IAB’s Internet Engineering Task Force oversees: Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

THE INTERNET TCP breaks down the packets for transmission and reassembles them at the receiving computer. Each packet is enclosed in an IP envelope containing addressing and other information. This ensures that the packets are sent to the correct destination

THE INTERNET The WWW is the fastest growing part of the internet and is made up of Web Pages. It operates on a client/server model (the client browser contacts the server which locates and send the information which is displayed by the browser). Navigation between the pages is achieved using HYPERTEXT.

THE INTERNET The Internet is primarily a collection of –LANs (Local Area Networks) connected by HUBS, BRIDGES, GATEWAYS and ROUTERS. –WANs (Wide Area Networks) is a series of LANs connected together under the control of one organisation

INTRANET Is a LAN or WAN that uses Internet technology and is dedicated to one company. A server (firewall) isolates the intranet providing limited access to authorised employees. Intranets provide the infrastructure for “INTRABUSINESS COMMERCE”.

INTRANET GENERIC FUNCTIONS Integration with Electronic Commerce Departmental Web pages Document distribution and workflow Database access Interactive communication / groupware. Search engines and directories.

INTRANET APPLICATION AREAS Product Catalogues and Manuals Purchase orders/order entry Document storage Policies and procedures Legacy System access Inventory ANY INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS

EXTRANETS Are ‘EXTENDED INTRANETS’ which provide secure links to the intranets of associated companies such as: –Suppliers –Customers – Financial services This platform is ideal for Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relations Management (CRM)

EXTRANETS Forms the infrastructure for e-commerce Szuprowicz’s ‘5 Benefits’ include; –Enhanced communications –Enhanced productivity –Business enhancement –Cost Reduction –Information delivery.

THE VALUE SYSTEM Accounting Invoicing etc. FIRM SUPPLIERS DISTRIBUTORS/ CUSTOMERS Administration & Personnel. Sales & Marketing Customer Relations Stock control PRODUCTS & SERVICES Distribution MONEY & INFORMATION Operations

SUPPLIERSFIRM DISTRIBUTORS/ CUSTOMERS INTRANETEXTRANET INTERNET THE VALUE SYSTEM

SUCCESS DEPENDS UPON Scalability Interoperability Configurability Compatibility Managebility Availability Reliability Distributability Serviceability Stabiltiy (Turban 2000)