In your design and implementation of a business strategy and system it is extremely important to remember the common thread that runs throughout these course materials. That is the concept of business process. As is pointed out in the course text, ". . . the real key is the way in which the technology is employed and the attention given to the business aspects of the site." (Turban, et. al., 2000, p. 381). As we shall see, while we implement technology and grow ever more dependent upon it, the implications of its use reach far outside the beige cabinet of our computers. 

 

Internally, the technology affords us the opportunity to reexamine and perhaps redefine the processes that take place in the organization. When those changes are implemented without due consideration of the overall business scene the results can be disastrous. The story is probably familiar to all of us, the company implements a technological "improvement", but somewhere along the way we lost sight of the employees and their role in making it all work. So personnel training is of critical importance and, unfortunately, too often neglected. There is also the effect of such change on the employees themselves and the impact on the internal corporate culture and politics. While the technology may make dealing with those issues a bit easier, it also has the potential to be a source of surprising new problems for management and staff alike.

 

 

Everyone is aware of the problem of computer viruses and the threat that they pose to us today. We have invented all sorts of security devices and technical methods to deal with the threat. However, the threat isn't a pure electronic play, to put it in Wall Street terms. I can cite two examples from personal experience. The first, an "email virus", isn't a "virus" at all, but one of the common hoax email viruses. The unfortunate individual that first receives the email is told that this email has been sent to warn about a virus that is sweeping computers all over the world, and that the recipient should proceed to take evasive action. That action usually involves deleting a file from the recipients computer, and depending upon what is deleted, disaster can strike at the next system startup (or boot up), or even earlier. What is worse, the recipient is instructed to forward the email to "all" of his or her friends, which then gives the message an extra air of authenticity. This example exemplifies the crucial need to train all employees on procedures to handle such bogus activities. The company should have some internal staff ready to advise and help when needed, and employees should be kept aware of such issues and be informed on how to deal with them. The anti-virus software vendors all have useful information on this subject on their web sites. Oops, I forgot you deleted that file as instructed and now you can't get connected to the Internet. Oh well! These hoax viruses are completely human driven, and yet can wreak havoc very quickly. One that I received had approximately 150 email addresses in the send-to line.

 

The second example is one of simple business fraud perpetrated via email. About four years ago I received an email from an individual identifying himself as a Professor of Physics at a local state university. This person wanted to know if I could help him establish and maintain a web site for his students. My suspicion was aroused by the short length of the message, not that Physicists are particularly long-winded in my experience, but rather by the lack of any real detail. I took about five minutes to craft a reply, indicating that I would certainly be interested in the project but needed a few more details. I specified about six specific questions. After watching for a reply over the next few weeks, I finally decided to contact the university by phone. As it turned out, there was no record of any such individual, and after informing the head of the Physics Department of the situation, a trace was made back to a student at another college on the other side of the state. Whether that person was a student working on a school project or just "joy-defrauding", I was lucky that I didn't jump the gun and give away proprietary or trade secret information, such as my pricing schedules and so forth. This is an extremely important issue to consider in training employees, given human psychology and the impact technology has had on us to "speed things up" in the name of efficiency, customer service and so on. All of our business processes must be fully examined and as well defined as we can reasonably and economically make them.

 

 

Depending upon the business or other organization involved, implementation of technological solutions will demand varied levels of investment in capital equipment, personnel, security, procedures and other areas. This can range from no more than a simple anti-virus program on a small businesses personal computer system running a simple advertising-only billboard type web site, to elaborate and expensive equipment and very complex software applications. Certain obvious differences exist between the typical small business and larger more complex organizations. Banks are one industry segment with an extreme need for security in the total enterprise. While many banks have recently established B2C sites for their customers, they also maintain their B2B extranet systems for communication with other banks, businesses and the government, independent of the B2C system. This also applies to their internal intranet systems. Each system component is protected in some fashion from the others.

 

There are other situations where human resources make or break the technology. For the average personal computer software application the lines of code that are generated in a commercial home/business application are numbered in mere millions. The applications are tested, certified, and usually work. But, as we have all experienced such things as the famous "blue screen of death" and other error messages, imagine the complexity of systems that absolutely must work, without fail, at all times. Systems at that level must also meet other business and regulatory requirements, and in some cases the code must be formally proven. That is the extreme of software documentation and testing, and, of course, it shows in the price.

 

To stress the need for system testing, consider the plight of a textile company that built a state-of-the-art plant in the 1980's. They neglected to test before the grand opening celebration. When the switch was symbolically thrown to start the equipment a few lights blinked, but nothing else happened. The communications lines to the equipment were working, but the line back from the equipment wasn't. Since the central computer didn't hear back from the equipment, it failed to give the necessary start commands. The end result was a terribly embarrassed CEO and Board, and the company scraped a $40 million dollar facility.

 

 

Architecting, implementing, and operating an e-business system requires that we consider all possible factors and take appropriate action. The factors span the complete organization as well as its customers and intermediaries. Protection and fraud detection are necessary components, yet they are under constant development and, we hope, improvement. A timely set of articles that relate to this workshop are in Information Week magazine on "digital identification and authentication" (Hulme, George V., 2002, pp. 22-23) and security considerations with business partners (Hulme, George V., 2002, pp. 38-42). Another pair of articles of current interest appear in Upside magazine and examine the current situations at Intel, AMD, and the overall chip industry: (Borrell, Jerry, 2002, pp. 30-37), and, (Draenos, Stan, 2002, pp. 38-42).

 

Workshop Three will examine Internet consumers, market research, and e-commerce advertising. Please be sure to read Chapters 3 and 4 in your Electronic Commerce text.

 

Also, please be reminded to submit your written assignments and responses to the weekly discussion questions as per the schedule published in the course syllabus.