Abstract
Effective development and deployment of e-commerce information systems largely defines the success of an organization and this is based on changing functional attributions of the technological platform in application. The current dynamism attributed by technology, globalization, modernization and internet has distributed the nature of e-commerce while also depicting the essence of developments and innovations. These factors are important for the various technologies which encompasses the utilization of respective components of e-commerce information systems. There are various components or ancillary technology elements based on e-commerce information systems and which are examined within the paradigm of newer technological platforms. Online retailers are experiencing a maturing e-commerce industry which is occurring at a justifiably higher rate and thus examining the overall impact of online business. This analysis provides a critical analysis of the evolution of e-commerce in a wider scale, its benefits and the significance of this technology within a changing business paradigm. The development of the internet and the impact of the global information infrastructure provide a complex dimension in both its level of reliability and its comparative relevance. The technical factors that aid technological change in e-commerce are comparatively vital in addressing the reliance level of e-commerce systems. The building blocks which hence generate an array of measures ranging from security, security process to real-time communication systems are all dimensionally integrated to provide optimal service delivery.
Introduction
Medium size online retail businesses require effective ancillary technology elements to offer solutions on every aspect o within the firm towards achieving the set objectives. Middleware is a significant component which offers ancillary services which are vital for e-commerce business establishment. These are vital in building complex e-commerce systems as examined in the study according to its effective strategies on implementing e-commerce information system solutions within an organization. Online retailers are experiencing a maturing e-commerce industry at a very high rate depicting the essence of strategic approaches aimed at offering an effective and efficient strategies to tap the benefits availed by e-commerce technologies to increase sales, dominate the market, increase customer satisfaction among other organizational objectives.
E-commerce is diverse and broad project which is intertwined with an organization’s plans to enhance relevant service delivery while equally having an added differentiation in the overall business structure. The growing reliance on e-commerce exhibits a major shift into internet systems and web-based relations. Online retailers face numerous challenges as the market continues to witness dynamic trends and challenges due to increasing customer service, increasing revenues and achieving a competitive advantage within the respective industry. Such conditions depict the essence of introducing e-commerce information system solutions. This solution is essential for the medium size retail businesses in relation to achieving the set objectives.
Based on the respective approaches and the entities that are encompassed under the e-commerce information systems and the complexity of the attached entities, the study seeks to examine solutions on e-commerce information systems in relation to the changing electronic marketplace. E-commerce system middleware integrates numerous technologies and products which facilitate the availability of backed network resources such as shared databases. Such strategies are essential for carrying out specific internet-aligned communications which hence enable firms to attain their operational objectives. According to Akhilesh, (2010) middleware integrates numerous software products which facilitate effective communications and management across a complex networked environment. Middleware facilitates e-commerce through service operational framework, or a server-client link and thus enabling signals to be effectively conveyed to broadcast information. The respective components embraced by these aspects in relation to the communication protocols, specialized servers among other essential entities are today utilized in providing relative e-commerce solutions (Schneider, 2006).
Electronic commerce presents an important process in business –unit strategies that are effectively classified according to the growth projections of an organization. Previous research works have indicated that the implementation techniques for e-commerce systems encompass the essential elements that a product or services contain. To be able to explain fully e-commerce systems, the market is divided into three broad structures; the portals, market makers and the product or service providers which can further be divided into Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) segments (Akhilesh, 2010). Under this case, the online retail firm embraces the respective approaches under each of the respective entities. This is based on the fact that the company acts under the Business to Customer segment when introducing their products and the services to the customers and also acts as a Business to Business segment while relating with the manufactures or the producers. However, based on the dynamic e-business factors and the respective settings under which the business operates, our focus analyses the strategic relevance of medium size online retailers offering Business to Customers products and/or service providers (Ward and Daniel, 2006).
Analysis
Turner, (2000) indicate that the benefits of electronic commerce are directly related to business promotions and specific geographical expansion of the buying environment. This implication points out the exploitation of new geographical market which directly benefit from new and existing venture models. The impact of this market scenario is to offer conventional methods to accomplish online transactions and create a largely secure growth drive in both the growth of the customer base and on the basis of innovation and clientele expansion. These are enacted by the technological factors which are independently upgraded to meet the fast growing relevance of the business development environment. This is achieved through examining the integrative aspects under which the business operates towards achieving the e-commerce enabled environment sale orientation.
The overall system flows and the architecture of the e-commerce information system in the medium size online retailer is required to uphold various systematic aspects including product segmentation, product sale management and technological upgrading techniques. Based on the notion that the firm under analysis in this section has already embraced some effective mechanisms and is only seeking various strategies aimed at availing solutions on the existing system, recommendation on the middleware category is hence provided (Ward and Daniel, 2006). This is based on the primary reasons under which the next generation of products are comprehensively introduced into the market so that the connection between the product itself and the clientele is intertwined appropriately. This can also be attached to the increasing number of clients in the e-commerce computing environment as well as the distribution of the backed service across the various distribution lines which require highly secured networks robust application services. The anticipated increase in the number of clients in the online business calls for the development of dynamic approaches that are aimed at addressing the attached deficiencies. Middleware introduces significant entities in relation to enhancing stakeholder participation with the respective mechanisms or strategies towards catering for some of the respective issues that are likely to emerge from the changing trends in the market and the industry (Wang, 2001). Some of the trends that have been encompassed by the various products, technologies and the services are:
- Access gateways
- Database interfaces
- Network and communication interfaces
- Application interfaces which facilitates the interoperability between the distributed applications
- Network or application services such as security, directory services, and transaction services
- Computer telephony integration (CTI) software
- Middle tier business logic implemented through traditional software technologies plus the programming languages or the object framework such as the Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs)
- Application execution services such as those services that supports large numbers of users, fault tolerance, workload balancing, session and the state management, accessing multiple resources and multithreading among others.
The introduced trends that have been facilitated by the usage and the applicability of the middleware can be attached to the respective entities under which the solutions on e-commerce information system solutions can be examined. This can also be utilized in medium size online retail businesses. Online retailers are faced with numerous operational challenges which can be termed as either threats or opportunities in regard to the ability of the firm to explore them. Reflecting these respective factors, the firm under analysis generates clear insight necessary to draw the developments and the deployment towards increasing the effectiveness and the efficiency of the firm. Customers require just in time delivery (JIT), wide range of products accompanied by the respective detailed information on the product, competitive prices, easy and friendly services such as purchasing and payments, reliability on the services and the products and also the assurances on privacy of their information. Though companies are using the information generated in the internet sites to develop strategies that are aimed at increasing the sales and customer satisfaction, there are risks attached to clients’ privacy. The sensitivity of the usage of the information is evident based on the various companies that have failed to thrive or have collapsed or recorded losses due to customer legal actions on the use of unauthorized data (Schneider, 2002; Shi and Daniels, 2003).
According to Wang, (2001) database interface is essential because the data that is consistently provided must be compatible in a more dynamic scale to offer a significant mechanism towards handling the information generated internally and externally. The database model depicted earlier embraces significant aspect towards the applicability, redefinition and the usage of online data to enhance adequate build-up of effective online transaction.
Database Management System (DBMS) can also be used in the customer relations management where the customers’ values are held towards ensuring loyalty to the business. The information generated should be used to enable the firm manage their customer relations through developing competitive strategies reflecting the customer needs (Tulleken, 2006). Through the computer telephony integration (CIT) software, the firm can be able to integrate their services to the mobile access on the system. This is essential toward encouraging the customers to make their purchases anywhere and able to view the information availed on the sites at their own comfort. This mechanism can be facilitated by the use of middleware as availed in the preceding sections as the recommended approach to the medium size online retail firm. Mobile access to the system is essential towards targeting the large number of customers or the consumers who are currently using the devices and also targeting the predicted increase in the number of the people to acquire the devices in the future. This is an opportunity that the firm should explore plus a solution towards increasing the market diversity and targeting more customers.
Another emerging trend that middleware has addressed depicting the need of implementing the strategy is based on the application execution services such as those that can support large numbers of users, fault tolerance, balancing the workload, session and state management, and accessing multiple resources among other services. These services are essential for every firm involved in the online businesses based on the various attached benefits on addressing profitability factors relevant to changing use of technologies. Growing technological trends and globalization with large number of users likely to access the same site, to avert delays, the firms are required to embrace the respective solutions that are provided by the middleware. Balancing the workload and being able to support large number of users can help the firm cater for a wide range of customers at the same time and avoid frustrations that arises when customers are unable to access information on the site appropriately. Network or application services such the security services, directory service, transactional services are also essential for the firm in diverse ways. This is evident based on the fact the company is able to ensure that the services and the information of their customers is secure and safe from fraud among other cybercrimes. Transactional services which are also essential in the online business with reliability being one of the essential entities are also facilitated through the use of the middleware implementation within the firm. The payments and other cash related transactions requires competitive and secure systems based on the sensitivity and the essence towards the growth of the firm and the customer confidence on the firm operations (Tulleken, 2006; Schneider, 2002).
An access gateway is another essential mechanism listed in the emerging trends that have been facilitated by the existence of middleware in relation to offering solutions. The access gateway defines the effectiveness and the efficiency of the users to navigate and access the information availed in the sites. The ease of access and the safety of the sites largely define the breakthrough of a firm in the industry. This can be attached to the sales trends where easy access largely defines the sales performances. The marketing should be extensive to tap the targeted customers in other sites especially the social sites.
Implementing middleware in the e-commerce system within the respective firm selected is also targeted to have numerous benefits are attached in implementing middleware to the firm. This is based on the following reasons among others that are provides in relation to e-commerce systems (Akhilesh, 2010):
- It will enable the firm support diverse client side environments such as the Java clients, ActiveX clients and other graphical environments. This is essential towards increasing efficiency and the effectiveness of the site in relation to increasing customer services accessing the site and ensuring the information on the products and the services is reliable.
- Supports the various types of information appliances
- Implementing and integrating the various applications and data distributed throughout the internet, the middleware enables a wide variety of IT enabled services and products to the customers which is a solution and an opportunity for the firm to target more customers and avail them with competitive services and products. The firm will be able to offer better and more robust content through delivering an integrated view of applications.
- Integrating the various types of information appliances
- Integrating vast tiers of e-commerce systems
- It facilitates types of information appliances within the firm hence enabling the more competitive and efficient services to the customers
- Incorporates better failure detections and recovery capabilities which can aid the company avert the respective implications that can deter the firms effectiveness and efficacy on services
- The system enables effective handling load of users
- Allows efficient managing of complex transactions flows that can minimize customer’s service delivery
E-commerce and the storefront
The changing purchasing trends today have been aided by numerous technological processes including business capabilities. The entrenched laws and operational principles have ensured that business ordeals get transformed through generational inclusions. However, the perfection of business processes have been ideally made to be achievable through numerous statistically aided processes which have distinctly defined what business models term as e-buying and e-selling. Technological preference is a transformable area that is measured according to the scalability of the items being managed. Online businesses have critically transformed the entire ecommerce spectrums and have enhanced the key business-related enterprises thus ensuring that repeated business cycles are well maintained.
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is a constituent of electronic buying and electronic selling and its derivative is based on the complex network manipulations, software interface and the reflective index of the transactional processes being carried out. Its processes incorporate complex chain of simultaneously occurring phases revealing the distinct technologies involved in ensuring that every step has been ideally accomplished with point to point transfer of data. The operational nature of ecommerce is to ensure that the interlinked technologies meet the minimum user standards and hence enabling users to carry out bulk transactions with aided security considerations. In real sense, the simplicities resulting from better lifecycles are majorly illustrated through the transport system that is managed through an ideal network of classified technological interface. Nonetheless, with new technological preferences, the acquisition and application of storefront at an international level is fast waning. These declines have been factored from recent emergence of fast and effective technologies that have made it possible to classically carry out transactions using real time systems. Operationally, storefront has been attracted by localized systems including the traditional ordering of products and ideal examination of quality, size and other array of features (Akhilesh , 2010). The distinct nature of e-commerce operations has made it possible to clearly develop the comparative analysis with the generative electronic commerce era that is seemingly growing through the business world. The specific engagements are in nature virtual and in real time. Obviously, the critical components would be knowledgeably measured using a scalable process and the distinctions would be supplemented by a number of occurrences including information derivatives, customized information depiction, global outreach and the quality of service availed by the system (Akhilesh, 2010).
Conclusion
Middleware technologies and products in an e-commerce framework enable the information of the business relationship via the integration of the application and services. This depicts the essence on the evolution, selection and the acquisition of the middleware as a vital entity in building proper functioning frameworks. As online retail business embraces current trends on technology and globalization, firms are required to embrace strategies aimed at adopting these trends. E-commerce forms an important entity in the current generation on the purchasing and sales or generally on the business world. Customers and other stakeholders are calling for more effective services and just in time delivery with the transactional services especially on payments requiring safety and privacy. Implementing middleware technologies avails the medium size online retailer firm with the most effective solutions on every sector within the firm in relation to e-commerce information system.
References
- Akhilesh B. (2010). E-commerce Systems: Architecture, Infrastructure, Model and Development Methodology; The University of Tulsa, USA
- Schneider, G.P (2002). Electronic commerce. 3rd ed. Boston MA: Thomson
- Schneider, G.P (2006). Electronic commerce. 3rd ed. Boston MA: Thomson
- Shi, D & Daniels, R.L. (2003). A Survey of manufacturing flexibility: implications for e business flexibility. IBM Systems Journal, 42(3):414/427
- Tulleken, L. (2006). Gateway to the web. Sunday Times: It’s My Business: 9 July
- Turner, C. (2000). The information economy: business strategies for competing in the global age: London: Kogan Page.
- Wang, S: (2001). Designing information systems for electronic commerce. Industrial Management Systems Research, 6(4):367/394
- Ward, J. & Daniel, E. (2006). Benefits management: delivering value from IS & IT investments. Chichester: John Wiley
