BUILDING AN E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

PIECES OF THE SITE BUILDING PUZZLE SDLC(SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE) BUILD YOUR OWN (IN - HOUSE) VS OUTSOURCING HOST YOUR OWN (IN HOUSE) VS OUTSOURCING HOST IN CO - LOCATION
Demand side and the supply side considerations when choosing the hardware platform for an e-commerce site. (JUST CONCEPT not part of course outline)

Pieces of the Site-Building Puzzle

Main areas where you will need to make decisions:

Human resources and organizational capabilities

Creating team with skill set needed to build and manage a successful site

Hardware Software Telecommunications Site design

Slide 4-2

SDLC (introduction)

IS may deploy in any business organization INFORMATION SYSTEM (IS) an arrangement of people, data, processes, and information technology that interact to collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to support an organization. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY(IT) Describes the combination of computer technology (hardware and software) with telecommunications technology (data, image, and voice networks).

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a methodology for understanding the business objectives of any system and designing an appropriate solution.

Systems Development Lifecycle refers to a methodology for developing systems.

whether it is a new system, or an enhancement to existing systems. OR LEGACY SYSTEM (card pro, visa plus) BankAlfalah

SDLC

The Seven major steps involved in the systems development life cycle for an e-commerce site are: Initialization/planning Systems analysis Systems design Building the system Testing Implementation Maintenance

SDLC

INITIAL INVESTIGATION/PLANNING

For starters, how do you find the system requirements, how do you calculate the cost? finding the requirements of a system it whole process on it own. You must go trough the companys documents and see how it operates, talk to the employees on different things they; you might do that by using questioners or conducting interviews. Then talk to the customers and everyone involved in the day to day activity of the company. After you have gathered all the required information you start analyzing it.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

The systems analysis step of the SDLC tries to answer the question, What do we want the e-commerce site to do for our business? To answer this, identify the specific business objectives for your site, and then develop a list of system functionalities and information requirements.

After analysis it where you will come with a system that is suitable for the company. You will know the type of equipments they need and softwares, then come up with an cost of putting the system in place.

system design

In the system design step, you plan on how the system functionality and requirements will be achieved.
Two components of system design: 1. Logical design

Data flow diagrams, processing functions, databases(ERD), security and backup functions

2.

Physical design

The physical design translates the logical design into physical components.
Specifies actual physical, software components, models, etc.

Logical Design for a Simple Web Site

Figure 4.3 (a), Page 211 Slide 4-13

Physical Design for a Simple Web Site

Figure 4.3 (b), Page 211 Slide 4-14

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

In this phase the designs are translated into code. In building the system, you perform the programming of the system and gather and implement any data needed. Different high level programming languages like C, JSP,PHP,ASP, Java are used for coding. There are two basic choices, to outsource the building to a vendor or to build the site in-house. If you build in-house, you will need to determine what if any portions you will build from scratch and which you will use packaged software for.

Testing
Once a site is built, and before it is released for general use, it must be tested thoroughly. Testing is required whether the system is outsourced or built in-house.

Testing Unit testing System testing Acceptance testing

Slide 4-16

IMPLEMENTATION

The final step, implementation (Deploying the Hardware / Software (Result of SDLC previous phases)), begins the systems operational life. During implementation, the system will need to be monitored, checked, tested, and repaired on an ongoing basis. It initialized the Maintenance Process

MAINTENANCE
Software(Website) will definitely undergo change once it is delivered to the customer . -The System evolves(grow) during database maintenance.

Note:- This is not compulsory there is only seven step in a SDLC but above are generic it varies from 3 to 26 according to organization structure or needs.

Choices in Building and Hosting

Figure 4.4, Page 212 Slide 4-19

Build Outsource:

Do you want to get access to specialized skills and services? Do you want to concentrate more on your core business? Do you want to save on money, time and infrastructure?

If your answer is yes to any or all of the above questions, you might be interested in outsourcing.
Slide 4-20

Build Outsource:

Outsourcing (IN GENERAL):

Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a particular function. (call center services, medical billing, Financial Services,
Software Development, Research and Analysis Services, Photo Editing Services, Creative Services and Web-analytics Services. Medical Transcription Services

Outsourcing (specific for e commerce web ): hiring vendors to provide services involved in building site.

Advantages

Take advantage of the cost-advantages!

when outsourced! Getting access to high-quality services at a cost-effective price is the biggest benefit that you can get while outsourcing.
Another benefit of outsourcing is seeing a big increase in your profits, productivity, level of quality, business performance and much more. When you outsource, you can save on time, effort, infrastructure and manpower.

See an increase in your business

Save Big!

Get access to specialized services -> such as

call center services, medical billing, Financial Services, Software Development, Research and Analysis Services, Photo Editing Services, Creative Services and Web-analytics Services. Medical Transcription Services
One of the benefits of outsourcing is that your organization will be free to concentrate on your core business. By outsourcing all your non-core functions, your employees can be put to better use and you will be able to see a huge growth in your core business.

Concentrate more on your core business

ADVANTAGES

Make faster deliveries to customers

Another benefit of outsourcing is that you can make quicker deliveries to customers. With timely deliveries and high-quality services you can impress your customers.

Improved customer satisfaction Increased efficiency

Another benefit of outsourcing is increased efficiency. Your non-core business functions will be performed efficiently by your outsourcing partner, while your core functions can be efficiently carried out in-house. Thereby you can achieve overall efficiency and see an increase in your profits.
Outsourcing can help your organization gain a competitive edge in the market. Countries such as U.S, U.K, Pakistan, India, Norway and Australia amongst others can benefit by outsourcing. The economy of these countries has increased tremendously after outsourcing. In the U.S, after the outsourcing boom, the economy has increased, jobs have increased and the wages of American workers have increased.

Give your business a competitive edge!

Outsourcing countries also benefit from outsourcing

Ideal for customers that don't have in-house expertise

DISADVANTAGES

undesirable results

In the event that the finished products do not meet quality standards.

waste of time

it can also be very costly for the company who outsourced the project.

loss of jobs

Many times work is outsourced simply as a means to save money. Outsourcing to a foreign country typically saves a company a great deal in wages. So, the choice is made to reduce their local workforce, at the expense of the laid-off employees.

DISADVANTAGES

lack of communication

It can be very frustrating for a consumer who is calling in with a customer service issue. When this individual cannot understand the customer service representative they are speaking with, it just causes more frustration and does little to solve the problem.

Hidden Costs

You will sign a contract with the outsourcing company that will cover the details of the service that they will be providing. Any thing not covered in the contract will be the basis for you to pay additional charges. The life-blood of any business is the information that keeps it running. If you have payroll, medical records or any other confidential information that will be transmitted to the outsourcing company, there is a risk that the confidentiality may be compromised.

Threat to Security and Confidentiality

You will have to rehire Web site designers if you decide to make enhancements or upgrades in the future.

Build own( In - House) :

If you decide to build an e-commerce Web site in-house, you will need a multi-skilled staff including programmers, graphic artists, Web designers, and project managers. You will also have to select and purchase software and hardware. Building a site from scratch involves a great deal of risk, and the costs can be high because many of the required elements of an ecommerce site such as Catalog
shopping carts, Registration credit card authentication and processing, inventory management,

order processing are quite complex.

Build own( In - House) :

Those tasked with the responsibility of building a Web site must have an understanding of the fundamental principles and concepts associated with Web development.
Do you have the expertise to do this? Do you understand the tool & technologies ((e.g., XHTML/CSS, Flash, ASP, PHP, AJAX) )? Are you ready to commit to a deadline and accept responsibility for the project?

ADVANTAGES

Specialized firms have already perfected these tools and your staff will often have to learn to build all of these features themselves. The advantage is that you and your staff may be able to build a site that exactly suits the specific needs of your company. Another advantage is that you will be developing a skilled staff and consequently acquiring an invaluable supply of in-house knowledge that will enable your firm to change the site if necessary due to the rapidly changing business environment. Gives you 100% control over the project Keeps talent and knowledge in-house, allowing for future enhancements, modifications and redesigns without having to incur the additional expense of rehiring outside designers

DISADVANTAGES

Must have equal expertise in design, development, marketing, and communications. Unless already familiar with Web site concepts and technologies, there's a curve that your schedule might not accommodate.

Host own (IN - HOUSE) versus Outsourcing

The hosting decision is an independent decision from the building decision, but the two are usually considered at the same time. OUTSOURCE
Hosting company responsible for ensuring site is accessible 24/7, for monthly fee

Most businesses choose to outsource hosting because it is generally less expensive than it would be for them to purchase all of the hardware and the physical space and to lease the communications lines and hire the staff. HOST OWN Large hosting firms can build the telecommunication links and emergency power supplies and achieve economies of scale by establishing huge server farms in strategic locations around the country. If you host your own site you must also build the security and backup capabilities yourself.

HOSTING IN co-location

Another option is co-location in which a firm purchases or leases a Web server and has total control over its operation. but the server is located in the vendors physical facility. In a co-location agreement, the vendor maintains the facility, the machinery, and the communication lines. Small ISPs may not be able to provide service that is as reliable as the large providers. The disadvantage of outsourcing hosting is that as your business grows, you may need more power or services than the hosting company can provide. This is the main reason that firms will decide to host their own sites, but the costs will almost always be higher than if they had chosen an outsourcing firm.

Demand side and the supply side considerations when choosing the hardware platform for an ecommerce site.

The hardware platform refers to the underlying computing equipment that a system will need in order to perform all of the necessary e-commerce functions. You must have enough platform capacity to meet peak demand, without over-investing in unnecessary and expensive equipment. The question is: How much computing and telecommunications capacity will be enough to meet that peak demand?

Demand side considerations

On the demand side, the first factor to consider is the maximum number of simultaneous(real time) users your site experiences. System performance will degrade as more simultaneous users request service. Processing HTTP requests for static pages is an I/O or input/output intensive operation meaning that it does not require heavy-duty processing power.

Demand side considerations

However, as customers request more advanced services such as searching the site, registering with the site, filling a shopping cart and checking out, and particularly downloading large multimedia files, much more processing power is required and site performance can go down rapidly. The user profile on your site will help to determine the necessary hardware platform.

What types of requests will users on your site make, for how many pages, and for what kind of service?

Demand side considerations

Another factor to consider is the nature of the content on your site. If your site uses dynamic page generation and business logic, as does the shopping cart, the load on the processor increases rapidly. These types of requests are CPU-intensive operations meaning that they require a great deal of processing power. Any user interactions that require interfacing with a database, such as

filling out forms, adding items to the shopping cart, making purchases, or filling out customer questionnaires, require lots of processing power.

Demand side considerations

The final factor to consider on the demand side is the telecommunication link your site has to the Web. The number of hits your site can handle per second depends on the bandwidth connections between your server and the Web. The larger the available bandwidth, the more simultaneous (real time) users your site can handle.
The connection to the client is also a consideration. As consumers embrace broadband connections, they will be able to make far more frequent requests and will demand richer content from your site.

This increased demand will mean that additional capacity requirements may be needed.

SUPPLY side considerations

After you have estimated the present and future demands you expect your site to have, you will have to look at the supply side considerations. First and foremost is scalability. How will your site be able to increase in size as demand warrants?

SUPPLY side considerations

You can scale your site vertically by upgrading the servers from single processor to multiple processors.

The drawbacks are that this can become expensive with each growth cycle and that the site becomes overly dependent on just a small number of powerful machines.

You can scale your site horizontally by adding multiple single processor servers and balancing the load among many servers. This can be less expensive as you can use older PCs that would otherwise be discarded, but you will have to purchase special load-balancing software.

The main drawbacks are that the size of the physical facility will have to increase and that there is added management complexity.

SUPPLY side considerations

Perhaps the best method for meeting the demands for service on your site is to improve the processing architecture of your site by splitting the workload up into I/O-intensive and CPUintensive operations. Then you can fine-tune the servers to handle each type of workload.

You can add RAM to servers that will store the HTML pages, reducing the load on the hard drives, and move the CPU-intensive activities to high-end multiple processor servers that are dedicated to handling a particular task such as order processing and accessing the necessary databases.

These steps will enable you to reduce the number of servers required to handle your peak demand.

THANK YOU