ECommerce Software

1
E-Commerce Software

• an industry perspective
• Sunil Bhargava
• Contract CTO

2
Personal Background

• Started undergrad at GWU at 15
• BS Computer Engineering, 1987
• MS Software and Systems, 1989
• D.Sc. Computer Science, abandoned in 1992
• CTO for many web-technology companies
• Spent last year at OneSoft, local e-commerce
  software and application services provider
• Contact Sunil_at_bhargava.com

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What is e-Commerce

• e-Commerce has become e-Business
• Business automation
• Web-based by definition
• Application by nature
• Involving the whole commerce chain
• manufactures and customers
• suppliers and buyers

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The more traditional definitions?

• Retail (B2C) - Sell-side
• Market peaked last year and still dropping
• Bill presentation and payment on the rise
• Procurement (B2B) - Buy-side or Sell-side
• Market plateaud last year but stable
• Different from when business act as consumers
• Collaborative Commerce (B2B2C) - Sell-side
• Exploiting and assist the existing channels
• Market places - Buy-side and sell-side
• Emulate all benefits of real-world,
  single-product marketplaces

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Retail (B2C)

• Value Proposition
• Disinter-mediate the retail channel
• Better shopping experience
• Personalized up sells
• Comparison shipping
• Evaporating myth
• Wider net (anytime anywhere) lower cost viral
  sales
• Technical Challenges
• International commerce
• Multi-lingual content management
• Cost effective distribution and fulfillment

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Procurement (B2B)

• Value Proposition
• Disinter-mediate brokers and traders
• Buy side
• Implementers are large customers
• Saves money by reducing inventory and purchase
  costs
• Sell side
• Implementers are targeting their medium customers
• Reduces cost of sale and increases revenue per
  customer
• Technical Challenges
• International commerce
• Automation of custom, non-uniform processes

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Collaborative Commerce (B2B2C)

• Value Proposition
• Exploit and extend existing channels
• Direct market the brand but sell thru traditional
  channels
• Enable B2C solutions for franchises and dealers
• Complex selling
• Value added products and services combinations
• Technical Challenges
• Managing conflict with e-initiatives of the
  channel
• Supporting variety of business processes, logic,
  and rules

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Market Places (Bs2Bs)

• Value Proposition
• Private exchanges
• Bring Shopping to the traditionally Buying focus
• Public exchanges
• Exponential growth in the market place
• Technical Challenges
• Custom catalog management
• Custom and dynamic price management
• Complex payment processing support

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What is e-commerce Software?

• Front-end
• For Visitors and Customers
• Web-based by definition
• Backend
• For enterprise business managers
• Merchandisers, Account Mangers, Customer Support,
  etc.
• Middleware
• To interface with existing systems
• Customer, Inventory, Credit, Payment and Order
  Processing systems

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e-Commerce Front-end

• Web Application Server
• Functionality
• Personalization and Profiling
• Complex, Dynamic Content Presentation
• Process Support
• Shopping Process
• Buying Process

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e-Commerce Backend

• Content Management
• Merchandizing
• Catalog management
• Price and on-line collateral management
• Process Support
• Customer Support
• Anomaly management
• Payment or Order processing hiccups

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e-Commerce Middleware

• Payment Processing
• Customer specific credit, purchase orders, etc.
• Electronic payment including EDI and credit cards
• Order Processing
• Interface to proprietary, custom enterprise
  systems
• e-enabled systems of large warehouses
• e-Services that provide Order Distribution
• Inventory Management
• Soft and hard reserve functionality
• Direct access to specific inventory

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The critical success factors

• Backend System Management Functionality
• Support for workflow and process management
• Appropriate use of technology for process support
• Access control in content management
• Business rules in anomaly management
• On-line collateral Management
• Images, Audio, or Video for virtual examination
• Structured for comparison shopping

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Whats missing?

• Community
• Polls, Message Boards, Chats, etc.
• Services
• Fee email, Consumer news and information, etc.
• Marketing Campaign Management
• Referrals, Affiliates, Banner ads, Emails, etc.
• Hot features of the day
• Amazon innovations
• Mobile commerce
• Shopping robots

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What about services?

• Shopping Portals
• Process Re-engineering
• e-Services
• Branding
• On-line collateral development and management
• Search engine placement optimization
• Efficiency improvements in web delivery

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The e-commerce leaders

• Almost everyone does almost anything
• Retail
• BroadVision, ATG, Blue Martini, MS Commerce
  Server
• Procurement (buy-side)
• CommerceOne, Clarus
• Procurement (sell-side)
• I2, Manugistics
• Collaborative (sell-side)
• Click Commerce
• Market places
• Ariba, VerticalNet

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Other important software players

• Net Perceptions
• Business intelligence for Commerce
• eShare
• Community and Customer Communication
• TaxWare
• Almost universal Tax Computations
• CyberSource, CyberCash
• Credit card authorization with value-added
  services
• webMethods
• With ActiveWorks a formidable middleware vendor

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Other important service players

• OrderTrust
• Payment and Order routing
• Double-click
• Banner ad provider
• VeriSign
• SSL encryption certificaties

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Core Solution Requirements

• Database
• Oracle
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Application Servers
• With integrated or separate web server
• General purposes AppServers
• BEAs WebLogic, IBMs WebSphere, Microsofts ASP
• Specific AppServers
• BroadVision, ART Technology Group, Oracle

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The vender we love to hate

• Front-end IIS
• Web Server
• Application Server (ASP)
• Choice of languages but scripted
• .Net support
• Easier deployment of services complied code
• Middleware BizTalk
• Standards (XML) based inter-application
  communication broker

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Microsoft Continued

• Backend Commerce Server
• Catalog Management
• Customer (profile Management)
• Targeting Content to Customers
• BizDesk
• Campaign management
• Catalog, Customers, Content management
• Order Processing including shipping, tax, returns
  processing, etc.
• Traffic, Product view, and product purchase
  analysis

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Important Technologies

• Everything from the two 400 lbs gorillas
• Oracle
• Microsoft
• DHTML
• Microsoft won the browser wars in e-business
• XML
• Microsofts and IBMs support for SOAP is
  promising
• webMethods is proving the value in
  inter-application communications
• Java
• Server side J2EE, JavaBeans, JSP

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Questions

• Responses

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Parting thoughts

• Understand the business behind e-business
• It is business application development for users
  outside the implementers company
• The line between software or service is blurring