E-Business Technology and Application

Question: Write a business report in about 2000 words based on the following: Select a new (developed/implemented from 2012/onwards) E-Business Technology/Application. Discuss the key advantageous features of the technology/application when compared with the alternatives available. As well as the key advantages, identify and discuss key limitations of the technology as well as the risks associated with its implementation. Answer: Introduction Trading of products is one of the major activities for survival of the human being in the civilized society. Advancement of the information and communication technology has facilitated mass adoption of internet in different aspects of personal as well as professional life. It has leaded to a paradigm shift in the procedure of business communication as well as trading. E-commerce has been introduced in the past decade and constantly going through evolution. The major aim of e-commerce is to provide a web platform to the buyers and sellers. E-commerce technology has revolutionized the business world through creation of a global online marketplace. Proper understanding of the technology and its implication for the distinct design preferences for technologies significantly affects functional as well as non-functional aspect of the e-business. Presently, the e-commerce technology is becoming increasingly popular (Carneiro, 2006). Several business houses are focusing on integrating e-comme rce technology as well as internet into their business mechanism across the globe. This paper will focus on discussing the e-commerce technology, its features, and advantages and will compare with the alternative. The major advantages will be identified along with its limitations. E-commerce technology E-commerce can be described as the modern methodology for business which focus on addressing the requirements of the company and customers for cutting cost and at the same time enhancing the quality of products through improving the pace of delivery of service with the aid of internet. The evolution of e-commerce can be referred to the amalgamation of the reform in regulatory framework and the technological innovation. Liberalization of the telecommunication sector followed by the significant innovations has facilitated the procedure of swift development (Feridum, Kropf and Babin, 2002). Architectural Framework The architectural framework of the e-commerce technology must be discussed in order to understand its utility and major advantages. The architectural framework of e-commerce technology refers to the synthesis of several resources such as data repository, DMS, communication protocols, computer languages, application software etc (Laudon and Traver, 2010). the framework is consisted of 6 layers of service or functionality. Six different layers are briefly discussed below: Application Services This layer is associated with the decision of type of e-commerce application which will be suitable for the service. There are three different types of applications in e-commerce depending on the nature of business. Intra-organizational application, business to business and consumer to business application are the three applications in e-commerce (Lin, 2008). Information Brokerage and Transaction Management This is one of the most important layers of e-commerce architecture. It helps in dealing with large amount of data and information within the network. This layer is responsible for acting as an intermediary which helps in integrating the service between the information provider and the customers. It caters to the specific need of the client such as fast service, best value or low price. Additionally, it functions as a major support for managing data as well as traditional services of transactions. Brokerage can be helpful in providing tools for accomplishing sophisticated transactions (Pozzi, 2013). Interface and Support Service The third layer is associated with providing interface for the above mentioned e-commerce applications. For example, the directory supports service and interactive catalogs etc. Directory support service helps in searching relevant information and provides access to it. In e-commerce, the directories are essential as it aim to organize voluminous data as well as transactions which are generated for facilitating e-commerce. On the other hand, interactive catalogs can be defined as customized interface for the customer application. It helps in making the advertisement more appealing with the use of video and graphics (Rajgopal, Venkatachalam and Kotha, 2003). Secure Messaging Electronic messages are the key activity of e-commerce with the aid of EDI and e-mail. The traditional messaging such as fax, phone and courier service have major technical issues and the urgent message delivery service might get interrupted. E-commerce has adopted the electronic messaging system which has the potential to access the correct information at correct time. However the major risk is associated with the privacy and security issues. Data encryption and authentication techniques are implemented for catering the security and confidentiality of data (Rajput, 2000). Middleware Service Significant development and growth of networks and different aspects of communication technology is the major reason for inventing the middleware service. The middleware service is utilized for integrating the distinct software programs(Laudon and Traver, 2011). Network Infrastructure The major aim of e-commerce is to establish an efficient communication system or platform between the supplier and the customers. Hence, it was important to develop an infrastructure for establishing effective network (Syed and Raisinghani, 2000). A centrally controlled circuit switching model was invented for establishing the network with the aid of single connection. Later packet switching was developed where the packets are responsible for travelling from one computer to another along the network till its reaches its destination (Schnaars, 2009). E-commerce Technology E-commerce is undergoing continuous evolution and the technologies are changing. Presently, the principle technologies of e-commerce include Extensible Markup Language, Java Programming Language and Platform, trans- coding etc. It has been observed that Java and XML has been integrating in order to form a strong middleware. For example, IBM has a software platform named WebSphere. The pace of standardizing XML and Java technologies is noteworthy for development of infrastructure in various industries. XML and Trans coding has been used for supporting wide range of customers. The e-commerce technology has shifted from the tightly coupled application to the loosely coupled web services (Walters, 2001). The new version of the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is Open Service Oriented Architecture (OSOA). It basically refers to the informal group of leaders in the industry which has a mutual interest. It focuses on defining a model which will not be dependent upon the language and will satisfy the demand of the project developers who are involved in development of the software through exploitation of advantages of service oriented architecture. Service Component Architecture is a major model which is aiming to cover large range of technologies for different methods of access as well as components of service. In case of components, it is not only a distinct programming language, but also a framework and environment is frequently used in the languages. In case of access procedures, Service Component Architecture composition allows use of different service access and communication technology such as messaging system, web service, remote procedure call etc (Laudon and Traver, 2010). Service Data Objects (SDO) is responsible for providing a set of ability in order to handle the business data in a way which is not dependent on the source as well as destination of the data. Dealing with data is a major concern for the business application. However, in case of the solutions which were using SOA, information might have a broad range of underlying format. It has been observed that data can be held in the relational database (RDB). Additionally, data can be held in XML formal which can be transmitted with the aid of web services. Service Data Objects aim to provide a support for the broad range of various programming languages in order to ensure that the service can be expressed in any languages and they will enjoy the benefits. Advantages of E-commerce E-ecommerce provides various advantages to the business organizations, suppliers and the customers. The increasing dependence on web services and rapid growth of the information and communication technology has encouraged various companies for exploring e-business. The major advantages of e-commerce are discussed in this section considering the perspective of customers as well as business. Benefits to the Customers The cost of goods and services are low in e-commerce as the phases in value chain are lowered. The cost related to intermediaries can be eradicated as the company is directly interacting with the clients without taking aid of the distributor or retailer. Thus, the price of the products reduces (Xu, Li and Ye, 2013). E-commerce has developed a global market place where the customers can purchase products from anywhere in the world. Thus, wide range of products is becoming available to the customers from different backgrounds. The customers are having greater convenience to shop online. They do not need to step into the stores which may seem to be a major barrier for the customers. Additionally, the customers can purchase products from anywhere at any time. The 24 hours access is a major factor for the success of e-commerce (Carneiro, 2006). E-commerce provides various choices to the customers. Additionally the customer can study about various products and brands before making purchasing decision with the aid of information brokerage (Xu, Li and Ye, 2013). The customers can receive detailed as well as relevant information regarding his choice or order within seconds with the aid of secure messaging of e-commerce. E-commerce has provided a common platform to the customers for interacting with other clients through formation of e-communities where they can share ideas regarding different products. Benefits for the Business One of the most important advantage of e-commerce to the business is it helps in increasing the potential market share. E-commerce has enabled the business organization to explore the international markets. Additionally, it has helped in achieving economies of scale quickly (Schnaars, 2009). It has been found that the cost associated with advertising in the print or broadcasting media is higher than internet. Advertising on internet has declined the cost of marketing communication activities. Hence, the cost will be declined. The entry barrier for establishing a business is low and anybody can start its own business on internet. The startup cost for the online businesses are low. Hence, it becomes easy for the new companies to start their new ventures (Laudon and Traver, 2011). E-commerce provides several strategic benefits to the business organization. It helps in declining the cost of labor as well as time for delivering service. Additionally, it has helped in reducing cost regarding the preparation of documents, reconciliation, overtime, cost of supervision etc (Lin, 2008). Comparison between E-commerce and Traditional Business The conventional business process is highly labor intensive which leads to increased cost of operational activities. On the other hand, the e-commerce has enabled to reduce the cost of labor which helps in reducing the price of products. Additionally, e-commerce offers a service which allows the customer to track the shipment of the products. These factors have been enhancing the popularity of e-commerce. However, sale of perishable goods are not very popular in e-commerce. E-commerce allows the customers to browse several products which is limited in case of the traditional brick and mortar stores (Pozzi, 2013). Limitations of E-commerce Though various advantages of e-commerce have been acknowledged in the previous section, some limitations of e-commerce have been identified. It has been found that some hidden costs are associated with e-commerce such as high shipping cost or restocking fee or less warranty coverage etc (Rajgopal, Venkatachalam and Kotha, 2003). The network is overloaded with information and network failure significantly affects the e-commerce. The business loses revenue and the customers cannot access the products as the system is entirely dependent on web technology (Rajput, 2000). Security and privacy are the major issues in e-commerce due to the online transactions. Customers are still worried about the privacy policy and its implementation in e-commerce. Conclusion This paper has provided an insight to the e-commerce technology which has emerged since the past decade and capturing the market rapidly. The beneficial characteristics of the e-commerce have been discussed in this paper by elaborating the architectural framework and the technology and software used in e-commerce. The major advantages of e-commerce have been discussed by considering the point of view of the customer as well as business. It has been found that the cost of product is lowered due to absence of intermediaries. Additionally, convenience has been found to be the major success factor for e-commerce. Moreover, it offers an exposure to the international market. However, the security and privacy has been a major concern for e-commerce. 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