Doc 24 E-Commerce & Application Service Providers

8/14/2019 Doc 24 E-Commerce & Application Service Providers

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Syntel CQA Forum E-Commerce & Application ServiceProviders CQA Doc No 24

Client Server Technology

Client/server is a computational architecture that involves client processesrequesting service from server processes.

A two-tier architecture is where a client talks directly to a server, with nointervening server. It is typically used in small environments (less than 50 users). A

three-tier architecture introduces a server (or an "agent") between the client andthe server. The role of the agent is manifold. It can provide translation services (asin adapting a legacy application on a mainframe to a client/server environment),metering services (as in acting as a transaction monitor to limit the number ofsimultaneous requests to a given server), or intelligent agent services (as inmapping a request to a number of different servers, collating the results, andreturning a single response to the client.

A common error in client/server development is to prototype an application in asmall, two-tier environment and then scale up by simply adding more users to theserver. This approach will usually result in an ineffective system, as the serverbecomes overwhelmed. To properly scale to hundreds or thousands of users, it is

usually necessary to move to a three-tier architecture.

E-Commerce

Electronic commerce is the most recent step in the evolution of businesstransactions. It replaces (or augments) the swapping of money or goods with theexchange of information from computer to computer.

For business-to-consumer e-commerce, the Web has become the dominantpipeline. Business-to-business e-commerce takes many forms. One of them is theElectronic Data Interchange (EDI), which is a format for exchanging businessinformation over private networks.

Pros and Cons : E-commerce is attractive because it reduces the cost of doingbusiness. Sending a few bytes of data over a network is cheaper, faster and moreconvenient than sending a messenger or even making a phone call. The primaryconcern is security. The Internet is very public, and many people hesitate to sendsensitive data over the wires where it might be intercepted by nefarious thirdparties.

E-Business

E-Business is a current and evolving technological business processes, which allowthe accessing, updating and communicating of information in a purely digitalformat, which can be used more efficiently and effectively, thereby creating acompetitive advantage.

More developed forms of e-business would include the merging of businessprocesses, enterprise applications and administrative structure to create a highperformance organization. This would include such applications as enterpriseresource planning, which digitizes and optimizes the entire operational structure ofan organization.

Portals

A portal is a gateway to web access. It is a hub from which users can locate all theweb content they commonly need. There are several types of portals Vertical

Enterprise Portals, called vortals, Horizontal Enterprise portals called Mega-portals,Intranets, Internets etc.

The advantages of having a portal over an ordinary home page are

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Customization - Different roles require different information.

Personalization - Different people with the same role work differently.

Efficiency - People get directly to the info they need.

Work Flow - Customization insures they don't miss anything.

Link Integrity - Software insures that links work or go away.

Reducing development life cycle in web based applications

Code Reuse

The simplest method is to reuse code that has been developed and tested forprevious projects in the same organization. The initial reduction in project timemight not be too much. As the process database grows, code reuse has been foundto cut more than 20 percent of the project duration. Developing reusableframeworks involves careful planning, as the code must be deployed in otherapplications with minimal changes. The most commonly used frameworks are thecontroller part of the MVC architecture, exception handling, database connection

pooling mechanism, e-mail framework, utility methods that will be used by manycomponents in the application, reusable scripts (Java Scripts / VB Scripts) etc.

Using features offered by application servers

Another possible solution would be use the features offered by the applicationservers. Many application servers today, offer additional capabilities, for exampledatabase pool management. These are more safe and easy to use than theframeworks written for some other projects. Selecting the suitable applicationserver with the required features, along with reducing the development time mind,will be the vital decision.

Using automated testing tools

Maintaining scripts for test data and using sophisticated tools for testing could be amajor step towards reducing the development lifetime of software projects. Thiswill reduce the time needed to repeatedly enter test data.

Application Service Providers (ASP)

Application Service Providers (ASP) are service firms that deploy, host, implement,manage and enhance software applications for customers at a central server farmacross a wide-area network, i.e., the Internet or leased lines. Customers accessthese applications remotely and usually rent them on a per user, per month basis.ASP combine packaged software applications, related hardware, operating systemand system/network management software, implementation and connectivityservices, and ongoing application management, enhancement and supportservices into a single bundled solution-enabling customers to simply interact withan ASP rather than a collection of multiple technology and service vendors.

Today, the ASP industry is an early-stage, high-growth market that represents aparadigm shift from the traditional application delivery and management model.

This emerging industry enables customers to reduce both application deploymenttimeframes and their total cost of ownership. Ultimately, we believe the ASPindustry will have one of the most profound impacts on the world of Information

Technology over the next several years. As such, we believe there will betremendous opportunities for both financial investors and emerging ASP to profit.

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Common Features of ASP

1. The ASP owns and operates a software application.

2. The ASP owns, operates and maintains the servers that run the application.

3. The ASP also employs the people needed to maintain the application.

4. The ASP makes the application available to customers everywhere via theInternet, either in a browser or through some sort of thin client.

5. The ASP bills for the application either on a per-use basis or on amonthly/annual fee basis. In many cases, however, the ASP can provide theservice for free or can even pay the customer.

Advantages of ASP

The ASP model has evolved because it offers some significant advantages overtraditional approaches. Here are some of the most important advantages:

1. Especially for small businesses and startups, the biggest advantage is low costof entry and, in most cases, an extremely short setup time.

2. The pay-as-you-go model is often significantly less expensive for all but themost frequent users of the service.

3. The ASP model, as with any outsourcing arrangement, eliminates head count. ITheadcount tends to be very expensive and very specialized (like pilots in theairline example), so this is frequently advantageous.

4. The ASP model also eliminates specialized IT infrastructure for the applicationas well as supporting applications. For example, if the application you want touse requires an ORACLE or MS-SQL database, you would have to support boththe application and the database.

5. The ASP model can shift Internet bandwidth to the ASP, who can often provide itat lower cost.

One thing that led to the growth of ASP is the high cost of specialized software. Asthe costs grow, it becomes nearly impossible for a small business to afford topurchase the software, so the ASP makes using the software possible.

Another important factor leading to the development of ASP has been the growingcomplexity of software and software upgrades. Distributing huge, complexapplications to the end user has become extremely expensive from a customerservice standpoint, and upgrades make the problem worse. In a large companywhere there may be thousands of desktops, distributing software (even somethingas simple as a new release of Microsoft Word) can cost millions of dollars. The ASP

model eliminates most of these headaches.

Things to Ask a Prospective ASP

ASP today offer nearly any service a company might need. Many of these services(like email, Web hosting, ad serving, invoicing and bill delivery, payroll, etc.) aremission critical. It is therefore important to make sure that the ASP you choose willhandle your information and relationship in a mission critical way. Here are a set ofquestions you should ask any ASP:

6. How do customers access the software? Is it through a browser or anapplication? If it is through a browser, how does the user experience feel?

7. How are customer service issues resolved? If you (or employees) havequestions and/or problems with the software, what happens? Does the ASPprovide training?

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8. How secure is the data? You want to find out about internal security policieswith ASP employees, passwords and access reports to protect your employees,firewall and other safeguards against external attack, and things like tape backups to handle hardware failures.

9. How secure is the connection between the ASP and the user? Data flowsbetween the ASP and the user whenever the user accesses it. Is it secured by

encryption, a VPN, proprietary techniques or some other system?10.How is the application served? Is your data on a dedicated machine or a shared

machine. Both techniques are common and you often have a choice (withdedicated service being more expensive).

11.How does the ASP handle redundancy. If a machine fails or an Internet pipegoes down, what levels or redundancy are in place to keep your servers online?

12.How does the ASP handle hardware/software problems? If a hard disk fails orthe application hangs, what are the policies in place around recovery?

13.How does the ASP handle a disaster? If the building were to burn down or a

hurricane came through, how would the ASP handle the complete loss of thefacility? How long would it be before service is restored?

14.Who owns the data? Obviously the customer should, but this fact should bestated in the contract.

15.How can I get the data out if I choose to select a new ASP two years from now?This is a tricky question on more complicated applications, and one that bearssome thought for mission critical applications.

16.How can I move data between existing applications and the ASP? For example,if you have a home-grown ledger system and want to move data back and forthto a billing ASP, how would that work? Many ASP have already thought of this

and handle it very well.

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Doc 24 E-Commerce & Application Service Providers