Introduction to e-Business Systems: Functional Business, Cross Functional Enterprise Systems, Applications in Business and Management: a) Enterprise e-Business Systems - Customer Relationship Management; the Business Focus, Enterprise Resource Planning; The Business Backbone, Supply Chain Management; the Business Network, b) Electronic Commerce Systems: Electronic Commerce Fundamentals , its Applications and Issues, c) Decision Support Systems: Decision Support in Business , Artificial Intelligence Technologies in Business
Unit - 3
Business Information Systems
BIS are often integrated in one product and can be delivered by the same software package.
It is also known as Package software solution.
BIS are designed for electronic and mobile commerce, transaction processing, ERP, management information, and decision support.
Business Information Systems (continued)
TPS
1. Electronic Commerce
It includes any business transaction executed electronically over computer networks. Following are the type of E- Commerce:
1. Business-to-business (B2B) E-Commerce.
2. Business –to-Consumer (B2C) E-Commerce.
3. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) E-Commerce.
E-Commerce
Electronic and Mobile Commerce Applications
Many B2B, B2C, C2C, and m-commerce applications are being used in:
Retail and wholesale
Manufacturing
Marketing and advertising
Price comparison
Couponing
Investment and finance
Banking
Strategies for Successful
E-Commerce and M-Commerce
Companies must develop effective Web sites that include the following characteristics:
Easy to use.
Accomplish the goals of the company.
Safe and secure.
Affordable to set up and maintain.
Technology Infrastructure Required to Support E-commerce
Successful implementation of e-business requires
significant changes to existing business processes and substantial investment in IS technology. The key technology infrastructure components are following:
Hardware, web server software, E-commerce software.
Technology Infrastructure (continued)
Value-Added Network (VAN): A private network provider, hired by a company to facilitate electronic data interchange (EDI) and/or provide other network services such as message encryption, secure email and management reporting.
The Virtual Area Network or VAN is a virtual LAN which runs on top on a physical LAN. Virtual nodes can communicate over the VAN without the ability to interact with the physical LAN. Example: Interaction with physical hardware such as Cisco routers and with Linux to route packets to and from the physical network
Web Server computers generally have more memory, larger (and faster) hard disk drives, and faster processors than the typical desktop. Many Web server computers use multiple processors. They are usually much more expensive than workstation PCs.
What is WEB SERVER
Server refers to a computer or device on a network that manages network resources. There are many different types of servers. Web server can refer to either the hardware (the computer) or the software (the computer application) that helps to deliver web content that can be accessed through the Internet. For example:
1. File server: a computer and storage device dedicated to storing
files. Any user on the network can store files on the server.
2. Print server: a computer that manages one or more printers, and a network server is a computer that manages network traffic.
Database server: a computer system that processes database queries.
Examples of E-commerce Softwares
1. CubeCart: Open Source Shopping Cart Software 2. Virto Commerce
3. WebSphere Commerce
Example of Web server Software: The two most widely used web server software packages are Apache HTTP Server and Microsoft Internet Information Services.
Example of server operating System: Windows NT
Web Server Software
The fundamental services provided by web server software are following:
Security and identification.
Retrieving and sending Web pages.
Web site tracking.
Web site development.
Web page development.
E-Commerce Software
E-commerce software performs following five core tasks:
Catalog management.
Product configuration.
Shopping cart.
E-commerce transaction processing.
Web traffic data analysis.
Mobile Commerce Hardware and Software
Handheld devices used for M-commerce have several limitations that complicate their use:
Screens are small.
Input capabilities are limited to a few buttons.
Less processing power and less bandwidth than desktop computers.
For these reasons it is very difficult to directly access many web sites with a handheld device.
Mobile Commerce Hardware and Software
To address the limitations of wireless devices, the industry has undertaken a standardization effort for their Internet communications.
The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP):
Standard set of specifications for Internet applications that run on handheld, wireless devices.
Electronic Payment Systems
Electronic payment systems are a key component of the e-commerce infrastructure.
Authentication technologies are used in e-payment to
confirm the identity of a user requesting access to information or assets.
Digital certificate: Attachment to an e-mail message or data embedded in a Web site that verifies the identity of a sender or Web site.
Electronic Payment Systems
Certificate authority (CA): Trusted third-party organization or company that issues digital certificates.
Digital certificates thus create a trust chain throughout the transaction, verifying both purchaser and supplier identities.
Electronic Payment Systems (continued)
For electronic payment following concepts are used:
secure sockets layer; electronic cash; credit, charge, debit and smart cards; P-Card; payments using cell phones.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL):It is a communication
protocol used to secure sensitive data like credit card number, banking information etc.
SSL handles the encryption part of the secure e- commerce transaction.
Electronic cash: An amount of money that is
computerized, stored, and used as cash for e-commerce transactions.
Credit, charge, debit, and smart cards
Smart card: Credit card-sized device with an embedded
microchip to provide electronic memory and processing capability.
Smart cards are better protected from misuse than conventional credit, charge, and debit cards because the smart card information is encrypted.
Electronic Payment Systems
(continued)
Electronic Payment Systems (continued)
P-Card (procurement card or purchasing card):Credit
card used to streamline the traditional purchase order and invoice payment processes.
Payments using cell phones: Available options:
Payments linked to your bank account
Payments added to your phone bill
An Overview of Transaction Processing Systems
Transaction processing systems (TPSs):Capture and
process detailed data necessary to update records about fundamental business operations of the organizations.
Every organizations has many TPS.
TPS supports routine operations.
TPSs do not support decision making.
An Overview of Transaction Processing Systems
TPSs include order entry, inventory control, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, etc.
TPSs provide valuable input to: Management information systems, decision support systems, and knowledge management systems.
An Overview of Transaction Processing
Systems (continued)
Traditional Transaction Processing Methods and Objectives
Batch processing system: Data processing in which business transactions are:
Accumulated over a period of time.
Prepared for processing as a single unit or batch.
Online transaction processing (OLTP):
Data processing in which each transaction is processed immediately.
Organizations expect their TPSs to:
Capture, process, and update databases of business data.
Ensure that the data is processed accurately and completely.
Avoid processing fake transactions.
Produce timely user responses and reports.
Reduce clerical and other labor requirements.
Help improve customer service.
Achieve competitive advantage.
Traditional Transaction Processing Methods and Objectives (continued)
A TPS typically includes the following types of systems:
Order processing systems
Accounting systems
Purchasing systems
Traditional Transaction Processing Methods
and Objectives (continued)
Transaction Processing Activities
Basic data processing activity of TPSs:
Capture and process data that describes fundamental business transactions.
Update databases.
Produce a variety of reports.
Transaction processing cycle:
The process of data collection, data editing, data correction, data manipulation, data storage, and document production & reports
Transaction Processing Activities
Data Collection
Capturing and gathering all data necessary to complete the processing of transactions.
Data collection can be:
Manual.
Automated via special input devices.
Data should be:
Collected at source.
Recorded accurately, in a timely fashion.
Data Editing
The process of checking data for validity and completeness to detect any problems is called data Editing.
Examples:
Quantity and cost data must be numeric.
Names must be alphabetic.
Data Correction
Reentering data that was not typed or scanned properly is called Data correction.
Error messages must specify the problem so proper corrections can be made.
Example: at shopping mall, a scanned code of an item must match a code in a master table of valid code. If the code is misread or does not exist in the table then a checkout clerk is given an instruction to rescan the item or type the information manually.
Data Manipulation
It is a process of performing calculations and other data transformations related to business transactions.
Can include:
Classifying data.
Sorting data into categories.
Performing calculations.
Summarizing results.
Storing data in the organization’s database for further processing.
Data Storage
Data storage involves updating one or more databases with new transactions.
After being updated, this data can be further processed and manipulated by other systems so that it is available for management reporting and decision making.
Document Production and Reports
Document production involves generating output records, documents, and reports. These reports can be:
Hard-copy paper reports
Displays on computer screens
Results from one TPS can be inputs to another system.
