EBUS400 eBusiness

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EBUS/400 eBusiness

• Randy Hill, PMP

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Agenda
1. Admin
2. Review
3. eBusiness IT Infrastructure Supply Chain
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Questions?
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Course Outline

• Week 1 eBusiness Strategy
• Week 2 eBusiness IT Infrastructure and Supply
  Chain
• Week 3 eBusiness Marketing
• Week 4 eBusiness Legal, Ethical, and Regulatory
  Issues
• Week 5 eBusiness Trends

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Objectives

• Explain IT infrastructure in eBusiness.
• Explain supply chain in eBusiness.

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• IT Infrastructure

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IT Infrastructure Components

• Architecture
• Terms
• Concepts
• Performance
• Reliability / Availability
• Security
• Applications

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The Internet

• Public and global communication network
• Provides direct connectivity to anyone via a LAN
  and an ISP
• Access is not restricted to anyone
• This lack of control may result in an information
  overload
• Information is difficult to locate
• Users need effective and efficient search engines
  to navigate the sea of information
• No centralized control of network and information

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Technology Overview

• Internet is the most obvious technology needed to
  conduct eCommerce
• Other technologies are also required
• Clients and servers
• Web servers
• Application servers
• Database software
• Network switches and hubs
• Encryption hardware and software
• Multimedia support

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A Little History

• 1969 US military network
• Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPANET)
• Allowed computers to talk to one another over a
  client/server network
• 1990 Internet is turned over to the private
  sector
• 1995-1997 WWW and rise of the browser help to
  drive the commercialization of the internet
• 1999 Peak of dot.com boom
• 2000 The crash of many dot.coms

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The Internet vs. The Web

• The Internet is ALL of the computers and ALL of
  the information available
• WWW
• Subset of the Internet
• Contains hypermedia
• Accessible through a browser
• In reality, the two terms tend to be used
  interchangeably

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Internet overview and TLAs

• NAP Network Access Point
• POP Point of Presence
• ISP Internet Service Provider
• T1, T3 high speed dedicated circuits
• Backbones interconnect NAPs
• NAPs feed multiple POPs
• POPs feed individual users and Intranets

Three Letter Acronyms
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Intranets

• A private computer network that can be accessed
  only by authorized persons, typically employees
  of a company or other members of an organization
• Low-cost way to distribute corporate information
• Collect and group information for external
  dissemination
• Infrastructure requirements are usually in place
  if PCs are on a LAN
• Includes TCP/IP network, Web authoring software,
  Web server HW/SW, Web clients, firewall server

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Extranets

• An extension of an organizations intranet, often
  using the Internet
• Enables information sharing between the
  organization and its members or partners
• Connect companies with suppliers or other
  business partners
• Can be public, secure private network, or VPN
• Provide the infrastructure for companies to
  coordinate purchases, use EDI, and improve
  communications

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Networks

• Public Network
• An extranet that allows the public to access its
  intranet
• When two or more companies agree to link their
  intranets using a public network (such as the
  Internet)
• Private Network
• A leased-line connection that physically connects
  two intranets

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VPNs

• Uses public networks and protocols to send
  sensitive data by using tunnels
• private passageways through the Internet
• Designed to save money and create a competitive
  advantage by alliances formed with cooperating
  companies

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Intranets and Extranets
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Dedicated Intranet
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VPN Intranet
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Dedicated Extranet
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VPN Extranet
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Services

• http calls up web pages
• https calls up SSL secured web pages
• ftp retrieves a file
• mailto sends e-mail to specific address
• news accesses a newsgroup
• file accesses a file on the client-side computer
• older, mostly obsolete
• gopher connects to gopher menu
• telnet logs into a remote computer

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Protocols and IP Packets

• Whats a protocol?
• Just a method of communication
• TCP/IP
• Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
• Ensures two computers communicating must be
  acknowledged as received or will retransmit
• Universal rules of the road
• Everything that is sent over the Internet is sent
  in an IP Packet
• IP packets can contain anything

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Basic Terms

• URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
• Addressing scheme
• Where resources are
• HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
• Set of rules for exchanging text, images,
  hypertext, and multimedia files over the World
  Wide Web
• HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
• Coding language to create hypertext documents
• Tells the browser how to display a Web pages
  words and/or images for the user
• Can be created using any text editor
• Browsers
• Opera, Firefox, Mozilla, Internet Explorer,
  Netscape, Safari, Camino
• Cookies
• Small pieces of information placed onto a user's
  computer that can be retrieved later by the Web
  server
• Mainly used to identify a user and their related
  information

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Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
URL Internet address for web document or file
http//www.moolah.com/wealth/money.html
method or service (usually a protocol)
file name
file location (directory path)
computer (server)
domain
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Domain Name
Host Name e.g., www, encarta
http//www.hp.com
First Level (Top Level ) Domain Names e.g., com,
edu, gov, mil, net, org, int, info - several
hundred exist
Second Level Domain Names e.g., Yahoo, MSN,
Microsoft, Phoenix
http//computer.howstuffworks.com/dns.htm
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Domain Name Services (DNS)

• Translate domain names to IP addresses
• Created in 1983 by University of Wisconsin
• Sounds simple, but
• billions of IP addresses in use
• most machines have human-readable name as well
• billions of DNS requests made every day
• hundreds of millions of people/machines using the
  Internet daily
• domain names and IP addresses change daily
• new domain names get created daily

http//computer.howstuffworks.com/dns.htm
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Domain Name Services (DNS) (contd)

• Single entity controlling the list to ensure no
  duplicates arise
• Network Solutions is in charge of maintaining the
  list
• DNS is distributed
• Example microsoft.com will maintain their own
  domain name server
• Microsoft has several hundred thousand IP
  addresses and host names
• Microsoft can change the database for its domain
  whenever it wants because it owns its DNS
• Every domain has a DNS somewhere that handles its
  request
• Completely distributed throughout the world on
  millions of machines administered by millions of
  people, yet it behaves like a single, integrated
  database
• Only 14 DNS servers at the top level

http//computer.howstuffworks.com/dns.htm
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Reliability / Availability

• Service Level Agreement (SLA)
• Typically describes a providers promise for
  service delivery and the processes for
  interaction between the provider and customer
• Metrics
• Uptime and availability
• Performance and capacity
• Backups and disaster recovery
• Problem resolution

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Security

• Many fears to overcome / assets to be protected
• Intercepted e-mail messages
• Unauthorized access to digital intelligence
• Access to client computers / web and commerce
  servers
• Credit card information falling into the wrong
  hands
• Trust of our customers
• Privacy
• Non-repudiation
• The sender cannot deny that he/she/it actually
  sent the message

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Virus Protection

• What software that
• Examines files and data
• Identifies virus infections
• Cleans, quarantines, or deletes them
• Why
• Protects your PC and the data residing on it
• Prevents the virus from taking effect and
  spreading

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Encryption

• What
• Processes and mechanisms for encoding data
• Why
• Preventing unauthorized access
• Validating data
• Verifying the source of data
• How
• One-way
• Private key (shared secret)
• SSL standard

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Identification

• What
• Processes and mechanisms for uniquely identifying
  a user, usually to grant or deny access to
  resources
• Why
• Access control
• Individual accountability for resource usage
• Auditing

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Firewalls

• What
• Software and sometimes hardware that controls
  access into and out of a private or semi-public
  network
• Why
• Primarily intended to prevent unauthorized access
• Can also provide caching to improve performance
• Can also provide protocol and/or content
  restriction to enforce local network policies

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Firewalls (contd)

• How
• Packet filters
• Look at the IP header and allow or deny
  transmission, based on the IP address and
  protocol requested
• Protocol gateway
• Act as a proxy between clients and servers for
  specific protocols, and make allow/deny decisions
  based on content within the packet
• Address translation
• Hides the IP addresses of internal network
  clients from the outside world
• Packet inspection
• Extends the protocol gateway technique to inspect
  the contents of individual packets

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Security Policies

• What
• Documentation and processes that define
  guidelines for appropriate use of network
  resources and specify how to prevent and respond
  to security intrusions
• Why
• Identifies resources, threats, risks, and
  consequences
• Helps ensure appropriate coverage at a consistent
  level of detail
• Instructs personnel on what to do and what not to
  do, both during normal circumstances and during a
  security event

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Elements of Good Security Policies

• Physical security
• Identification and authentication
• Encryption
• Password management
• Firewalls
• Software policies
• Architecture and access
• Incident detection and handling (NIDS, HIDS)
• Security awareness and education
• Audit and review

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Webpage Generation

• Static HTML
• Small, simple web sites
• Content doesnt change or rarely changes
• Example brochure
• Statically-generated HTML
• Small-to-medium size and complexity
• Content changes infrequently or on a schedule
• Example basic corporate informational web site
• Dynamically-generated HTML
• Medium-to-large size and complexity
• Content changes frequently or even continuously
• Example live eCommerce catalog site or
  information/news site

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Databases

• Batch update vs. real-time
• Applications
• Product catalogs
• Inventory
• Customer information
• Web page content

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New Applications

• Corporate, product, support, and investor
  information online
• eCommerce
• Live help, webinars, etc.
• LiveMeeting, NetMeeting

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Legacy Applications

• AR / AP
• Order Entry
• Inventory Control
• Shipping and Receiving
• HR / Payroll
• GL
• Supply Chain
• via conventional mechanisms and EDI

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Web/Application Integration

• Webifying applications
• Inter-program communications
• Establishing common data dictionaries and
  structures within an organization
• Establishing common data dictionaries and
  structures across organizations
• Retraining

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• Supply Chain

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Supply Chain

• The total sequence of business processes that
  enables customer demand for a product or service
  to be satisfied

Wholesale Distributors
Manufacturers
Suppliers
Retailers
Customers
Information Flows
Goods Flow
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Supply Chain Components

• Logistics
• Part of the supply chain process that plans,
  implements, and controls the acquisition, storage
  and transportation of goods, services, and
  related information from the point of origin to
  the point of consumption
• Production
• The process of transforming inputs of raw
  materials or goods into finished products
• Distribution
• The marketing or merchandising of goods or
  products

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Supply Chain Management (SCM)

• Ensures merchandise is produced and distributed
• at the right quantities,
• to the right locations,
• and at the right time,
• in order to minimize system-wide costs while
  satisfying service level requests
• Goal to reduce inventory

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SCM Benefits

• Reduced supply costs
• Improved profit margins
• Profit per additional unit produced
• Better return on assets
• Better information gathering and sharing

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Supply Chain and the Internet

• Advantages
• Reduced deployment and admin costs
• Familiar interfaces (i.e., web browser)
• Accessibility via technology (i.e., the Internet)

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SCM eBusiness Software

• Planning Applications
• Can use mathematical modeling and algorithms to
  determine the best way to fill an order
• Enables collaboration and information sharing
  between parties
• Real-time sharing of sales forecasts and
  replenishment plans
• Assists in new product development and
  change-overs
• Execution applications
• Track the physical status of goods, the
  management of materials, and the financial
  information of all parties
• Records performance data about the supply chain

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SCM eBusiness Software ? Issues

• Learning curve
• Technology and existing processes
• Functional silos
• Conflicting goals and objectives
• Coordination
• Centralized vs. decentralized control

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Disintermediation / Reintermediation

• Removing the middleman
• Going direct from producer to the end consumer
• What are the advantages/disadvantages of
  disintermediation?

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Some Supply Chain Metrics

• SLA measurements
• On-time deliveries
• Stock-outs and inventory levels
• Cycle time
• Inventory
• Cash to cash working capital
• Returns (for various reasons)
• Costs as percent of revenue

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Electronic Conferencing Tools

• Share information and collaborate while working
  together on joint assignments, no matter where
  they are located
• Include such tools as
• Data Conferencing
• Voice Conferencing
• Video Conferencing
• Discussion Forums
• Chat Systems
• Electronic Meeting Systems

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Data Conferencing

• Users can view, markup, revise, and save
  changes to a shared whiteboard of drawings,
  documents, and other materials in real-time
• Most allow a voice and data conference at the
  same time
• Can also provide highlighting and annotating
  documents

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Voice Conferencing

• Telephone conversations shared among several
  participants via speaker phones or networked PCs
  with Internet telephone software

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Video Conferencing

• Provides real-time video/audio conferences among
  users in different locations)
• Teleconferencing often employs one-way video
• In such cases major participants may be televised
  while participants at remote sites may only be
  able to take part with voice input of questions
  and responses
• May include whiteboarding
• Examples White Pines CUSeeMe and Intels
  ProShare

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Other Tools

• Discussion Forums
• Encourages and manages online text discussions
  among members of special interest groups
• Electronic bulletin boards
• Chat Systems
• Enable networked users to have real-time text
  conversations
• Electronic Meeting Systems
• Facilitate communication and improve efficiency,
  quality, and creativity in group decision making
  during business meetings

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Collaborative Work Management Tools

• Help business professionals accomplish or manage
  group work activities
• Includes the following
• Calendaring and Scheduling
• Task and Project Management
• Workflow Systems
• Knowledge Management

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Calendaring and Scheduling

• Automatically schedule, notify, and remind
  members of teams and workgroups of meetings,
  appointments, and other events
• Many of these capabilities are provided in office
  automation packages commonly available
• e.g., Microsoft Office Professional

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Task and Project Management

• Manage team and workgroup projects by scheduling,
  tracking, and charting the completion status of
  tasks within a project
• Most groupware packages also produce charts
  (e.g., Gantt charts) to help plan and track
  projects

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Workflow Systems

• Accomplish and manage the flow of structured work
  tasks and electronic document processing within a
  knowledge-based business process
• Structured tasks are tasks that involve a set of
  rules that govern the flow of subtasks and
  typically involve task information contained in
  documents
• Example processing of a tax return
• Examples Novell GroupWise and Lotus Notes

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Knowledge Management

• Used to create an organizations knowledge base
• Help to organize and share the diverse forms of
  business information created within an
  organization
• including managing project and enterprise
  document libraries, discussion databases,
  hypermedia databases
• Examples Livelink and AltaVista

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Questions?
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Next Workshop

• eBusiness Marketing

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• Dont hesitate to call or email
• Have a great week!
• Now, go home!