Exercise 1: Analysis of the online communities' paradigm

1. Visit http://yahoo.com/  and http://facebook.com/  as examples of online communities.


a. What is meant by an online community and how is it important for e-commerce?

b. Is there a common thread and a local community sense in action?

2. Visit the famous online store front at http://www.amazon.com/

a. Why has it been a successful site? How does the purchase of a book work?

b. Are there any secure transactions not involving money?

3. What happens with new models emerging such as price comparison sites?

What is your perspective? Developer or IT manager?

You may be interested in building Web applications, or network design or IT management. This subject has you researching and working with using some technologies for designing, building or managing Web applications. Whichever role you are to play, the learning journey will build concepts and ideas as a either a developer or IT manager.



At the same time, you are asked to consider examining the big picture - how each application contributes to the large scale needs of an organisation – planning, policy, competitive edge, knowledge management and the need for secure electronic transactions. You may want to do some research into the Model-View-Controller design approach, the Object-oriented UML design work and project management or into the use of extreme programming (XP) methods. One useful approach is to use rapid evolutionary prototyping.

Rapid evolutionary prototyping approach

A case history

In 1996, I was consulted on building an inaugural e-commerce site and intranet for a national insurance broking business, with over ninety branch offices across the nation. A lot of new Web technologies have developed since that time. We used a professional graphics designer for all logos, buttons and image maps and used PERL and CGI for all server-side interactivity. This was the beginning of a developing e-systems infrastructure for the company.



For the work breakdown structure, I used the 'builder metaphor' for developing Web applications. This is similar to a project homebuilder sub-contracting work to others, e.g. carpenter, electrician, concreter, cabinetmaker, carpet layer and painter. This approach was easier for me to handle as project manager and easier for the business client to understand the apparent costs associated with the Web site development. It was used in tandem with a Rapid Evolutionary Prototyping Approach.



The Rapid Evolutionary approach is recommended for small projects as a fluid approach consisting of two main phases:



1. evolutionary application prototyping; and

2. implementation.

After capturing the business requirements and the system specifications, the object modelling focused on what the system should do, rather than the how to. One of the attractions of this approach is that users see a visible, tangible system as construction takes place. One of the pitfalls occurs if the system becomes unstable or hard to maintain, once it is moved to the production site. Make sure that you include proper project management and quality techniques in your e-business application development.



In the final project report I recommended that any maintenance or site makeover be done with an outsourcing company. The intranet was in constant use, with some 'fine tuning' until 2001. A new site was released in early 2002 but looks vastly different in 2010. The reason the first design lasted for five-six years was that the site did what was required and the business needs were slow to change – until a corporate re-structuring.


Reference:


Charles Sturt University ITC 594 E-system infrastructure development student study guide