Lesson 1

Technological building blocks underlying e commerce. You may find it strange that in a course dealing with eBusiness, we have so far largely skimmed over the technical components of eBusiness implementation. This is because although technology is the foundationx of eBusiness, technology is not the prime concern of the architect. eBusiness is all about business using technology as the enabler, or facilitator, of the process.
A component-based or "modular" business design allows high-level functions to advance along with the information systems that support them, and to adjust to evolving business conditions. An eBusiness with a well-designed technological infrastructure (one that is highly modular) can adapt with ease to absorb new directions in business. This is because in a modular design, the organization and presentation of information is affected more so than the underlying processes.
For this reason, the prime technological concern of the architect of an eBusiness solution is that the technical architecture must be robust and comprehensive. In other words, technology is the foundation upon which the eBusiness will be built, and the technology must be strong enough to support it. It is up to the architect to remain strategically focused, without getting too involved in the tactical level of technology. If the strategy is in place, and the plan is well designed and scalable, the details will follow and accommodate change--without affecting strategy.

The smallest independent units a business is composed of are called components. The responsiveness of an organization to change is often wholly reliant on these components. If the business model has been built on components, the business is better prepared to incorporate change, because the underlying processes remain unaffected, while the business moves in a new direction.

• Defining Electronic Business:
  The evolution of the information society is often compared Emergence of to the Industrial Revolution in terms of its consequences. The use of information and communication technologies provides the opportunity to extend the abilities of individuals and organizations to act, to reinforce cross-border contacts, and to develop an open society with cultural originality and variety.
  Due to technological changes and economic development, the information factor has become more significant than the production factor. Many companies and organizations have moved their business processes onto the web and realized customer relationships with the help of electronic communication, leading to the term electronic business.

Electronic business means initiating, arranging, and carrying out electronic business processes. In other words, exchanging services with the help of public or private communication networks, including the Internet, in order to achieve added value. Companies (business), public institutions (administration), as well as private persons (consumer) can be both service providers and service consumers. What is important is that the electronic business relationship generates added value, which may take the form of either a monetary or an intangible contribution.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Identify the network and security technologies required for eBusiness
2. Describe the use of a database in an eBusiness context
3. Identify the considerations for selecting or building a server
4. List the considerations for the client-end of eBusiness
5. Explain the use of search agents in eBusiness applications
6. Define the differences between push and pull technologies
7. Describe the characteristics of Intranets, Extranets, and VPNs
8. Outline important Web site design considerations

In the next lesson, we will look at identifying the network and security technologies required for eBusiness.