SMU MBA ASSIGNMENTS

Electronic Commerce Framework

A framework can be defined as a structure for supporting or attaching something else, particularly a support that is used as the foundation for something being created. Hence, an e-commerce framework comprises the set of infrastructure required for carrying out the e-commerce business. This set of infrastructure typically includes the network requirements and the different software applications that are for e-commerce.
The e-commerce vision summarised above assumes a series of essential infrastructure services and values steady with a broad architectural framework. This framework must allow flexibility, interoperability and directness necessary for the successful development of electronic commerce. The e-commerce framework offers a set of options to the customers. Most of the electronic commerce plans have different strategies for security and privacy, their skill to deal with the payments, and their usability to different transactions. They also vary in their business models. Such variations promote innovation and allows for supplier and customer options. But yet, you need a broad framework to gain wide acceptance. This includes the following requirements and peculiarities of carrying out various business forms in this upcoming electronic environment.

Interoperability: Electronic commerce is based on a common set of required services and standards that allow interoperability. Service providers and application designers use these services and standards as building blocks. They achieve the goals and objectives of e-commerce by combining, enhancing and customising these building blocks as per the requirements.

Maximum flexibility for innovation: The innovation in e-commerce will grow and be established in ways that are impossible to visualise. This will result in evolution of new services and businesses. We can already see that many electronic marketplaces are giving rise to new openings for new services and businesses. Existing services and products will be specified and adapted. Hence, the electronic commerce framework plays a vital part in adapting the changes and then later dealing with the new applications.

Information-intensive products: It is observed that the most important set of products that are sold through e-commerce are the pure information products. For example: electronic journals, catalogues, videos, interactive video games, software programs, electronic coupons, and so on. They also include electronic keys to cars, hotel rooms, storage sections, and airport boarding gates. Some of these products can be designed or modified by a customer. For example, customers want their own selection of articles to be attached in an electronic book, or modify their own clothing designs. This capability calls for a customer-driven activity — a design phase, to the purchase cycle. Hence, it is necessary to have all the activities in the process of the transaction — designing, customising, ordering, billing, payment and distribution tightly integrated and happening simultaneously.

New revenue collecting techniques: We already know about the traditional techniques of revenue collection, for example, payment upon receipt, advance payment, and so on. At present, electronic commerce supports more improved methods of revenue collection. For example, an information product service provider will allocate the product broadly and then charge on a usage basis – which means charging the customer only when the information is used. This information can be a software program, a digital record, or an electronic key used to open and start a rental car.

Meterware is a new strategy implemented in recording and billing customers constantly depending on their product usage. Along with Meterware, electronic cash and cheques also help in gaining new customers and sharing products.

Legacy systems: The legacy systems that are prevailing in electronic commerce field include mainframe-based agreement, paper cheques, and payment systems, and so on. An electronic commerce infrastructure gains success only when it allows the user to easily shift from traditional systems to innovative, electronic systems, and applications and processes.

Transaction devices: e-Commerce dealings include different kinds of legacy and recently formed devices, media, and systems over which transactions take place. Hence, it is necessary that e-commerce adapts the technologies and devices required for reaching and maintaining the mass market.

We can conclude that an electronic commerce framework developed with all of these needs and considerations in mind will form a strong basis for an extremely useful and effective electronic commerce infrastructure.

Selecting the best e-commerce framework

Deciding on the best e-commerce framework is one of the major challenges for any organisation. The framework should be selected based on the three evaluation points:

· Features.

· Requirements.

· Luxuries.

Figure 1.1 explains the three evaluation points of e-commerce framework.

 

Figure 1.1: Three Evaluation Points of e-Commerce Framework

Features are those elements of the framework that make it more prominent and clear from other offerings.

Requirements are the basic requirements of the framework that allow it to do its work. If one among these is lost, then it becomes difficult to use a particular framework, even with the presence of any other features.

Luxuries are the components whose presence is not so important, but they are required to make the case for a framework that comes at a bonus price. The luxury components add something extra to the system to make it worthy of the premium price. The three important factors to look for in any
e-commerce framework are:

· Template management.

· Core framework functionality.

· Search engine features.

The framework should be adaptable in order to be able to cope with future evolution of the site and market. At the same time, it should be able to support the existing business and make it as easy as possible.

You cannot create content that will be suitable for submission to search engines, unless you achieve good integration with search engine optimisation functions. Failing to do so will lead to your site creator spending considerable time preparing submission pages instead of making use of that valuable time for extending the site.

So long as you can balance between the cost and the benefits, it is worth paying the extra amount to have a framework that saves you from all that work involved in maintaining the infrastructure and processing payments. The end result is profitability, as expensive manual work is removed from the process.

Electronic commerce and media convergence

By now you must be familiar with the e-commerce framework. Let us now discuss the role of media convergence in e-commerce.

Media Convergence[3] is a process of interlinking of computing and information technology organisations, telecommunication networks, and content providers from various media. These media include journals, newspapers, music, television, radio, and entertainment software. Media convergence conveys jointly the “three Cs” and they are computing, communications, and content.

Convergence happens at two major levels:

1. Technologies: Creative content is transformed into industry-related digital forms for delivery. This is done via broadband or wireless networks to exhibit on various computer or computer-related devices and also on cellular telephones to personal digital assistants (PDAs) to digital video recorders (DVRs).

2. Industries: Companies that are spread all over the business spectrum starting from media to telecommunications to technology, combine or create strategic agreements. The purpose of these alliances is to expand new business models that can yield profit from the emerging customer expectations of availability of content.

We all are aware that there is a rapid growth with respect to usage of electronic applications and the internet and people, all over the world, have entered the digital age because of technological development. Most of the media-related organisations are experimenting with new openings and concerns — afforded by what is termed as “convergence”. The act of combining together of different media and integrating new personalised services is both inspiring and overpowering.

The implementation of high-quality computers, changing to digital platforms, and formation of high-speed computer networks has helped us with new ways of doing things. The old explanations that provided division between TV, Radio, Cable, Newspapers, and Films are gone forever. During 1990’s, there was evolution of ownership convergence which resulted in creation of media-based multinational companies. For example, Disney, Viacom, Sony, and so on. From the customer’s perspective, the Internet has also changed our favourite delivery systems, which include newspapers that provide video and TV that offer interactive conversations, and radio that offers web-cams.

Media convergence has a major part to play in the field of e-commerce and information technology. Media convergence is particularly a blending of television, personal computer, and telecommunications. This helps in providing a high-speed Internet access, traditional television programs and interactive services in a single box. The convergence at a technological level will facilitate audio, video, and data to be conveyed to customers using a single pipeline. This pipeline may be in the form of wire which could be cable or DSL, or may be wireless. This will help the customers to not only access the Internet from a single box, but also access high-speed networks through various access points including TVs, PCs, mobile phones and other mobile devices, public booth, and home appliances.