Chapter 12 Implementation and Maintenance. Awad –Electronic Commerce 1/e © 2002 Prentice Hall 2 OBJECTIVES Implementation Strategies –Proper Testing &

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Chapter 12

Implementation and Maintenance

2WWWWWW Awad –Electronic Commerce 1/e© 2002 Prentice Hall

OBJECTIVES

• Implementation Strategies– Proper Testing & Readiness of the Website– Site Performance Issues– Disaster Planning & Recovery– Staff Training– Implementation Management

• Maintenance Strategies– Monitoring Website Traffic

Implementation & Maintenance: Objectives

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IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

• Proper testing & readiness of website

• Reliability of technology

• Readiness of ISP to load website & handle traffic

• Security of lines & payment system

• Customer service staff training

• Readiness of fulfillment process with vendor’s warehouse

• Performance check of entire system before actual deployment

• Assignment of a Web team to monitor, maintain & upgrade the system

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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PROPER TESTING & READINESS OF WEBSITE

• Response time to inquiries

• Stress testing

• Recovery testing

• Human factor testing

• Staging testing

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TEST PLAN

• Criteria for visitor testing

• Load website & prepare website procedure

• Website & system tests

• Procedure for making necessary corrections

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TEST PLAN

• Syntax Errors– Violate rules of language in which website is

written

• Logic Errors– Deviations from a range of acceptability

• Website Testing vs. Total System Testing

• Visitor Acceptance Testing

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QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Development of controls to ensure a quality website

• Emphasized in every stage of website development life cycle

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Correctness

• Scalability

• Maintainability

• Reliability

• Optimum Performance

• Alpha Test vs. Beta Test

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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SITE PERFORMANCE ISSUES

• Merchant Server

• Applications Server

• Payment Processor

• Back-end Databases

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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DISASTER PLANNING & RECOVERY

• Disaster Recovery Plan– Contingency plan for resuming operations

when a problem disrupts normal operations– Identifies potential threats, prioritizes website

& other applications, and devises safeguard to minimize losses in the event of a disaster

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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GOOD DISASTER RECOVERY PLANNING

• Assessing website’s vulnerabilities via risk analysis

• Reducing / preventing technical & operational risks to online environment

• Developing cost-effective solutions• Ensuring alternative Internet access modes• Providing disaster recovery procedures• Training e-commerce staff in disaster recovery

methods

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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RECOVERY PLANNING

• Backup– Redundancy– Mutual aid with another organization– Uninterruptible power supply

• In-house vs. Outsource

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DISASTER/RECOVERY PLAN

• Appoint a competent team of representatives (ie - Web designer, IT representatives, and customer service staff)

• Prepare planning

• Draft a disaster/recovery manual

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STAFF TRAINING

• E-learning– Web-based training– Mostly outsourced– Less pressure on IT department– Hard to monitor

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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IMPLEMENTATION MANAGEMENT

• Project Management– Estimating resource requirements– Scheduling tasks & events– Providing for training and site preparation– Selecting qualified staff & supervising their work– Monitoring project’s program– Documenting– Periodic evaluating– Contingency planning

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

• Performance

• Personnel

• Integrating front-end commerce site with back-end fulfillment vendors

• Maintenance & enhancements

• Post-implementation planning

Implementation & Maintenance: Implementation Strategies

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IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

• Ensure each staff knows his/her job

• Sell all participants on importance of working together as a team

• Plan ahead on how to solve predictable problems

• Establish a specific procedure for handling routine problems

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MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES

• Check for website operational errors, links & contents

• Web designers use a syntax-checking program to catch errors before the website is fully operational

• Eliminate all dead links

• Check fax & e-mail orders

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MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES (Cont’d)

• Process invoices for items that are readily available

• Use e-mails for communications with customers, vendors, and employees

• Upgrade or redesign website

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MAINTENANCE CONSIDERATIONS

• Make website attractive

• Minimize load times

• Text should be displayed quickly

• Verify ordering information

• Encourage customer feedback

• Maintain & upgrade technology

Implementation & Maintenance: Maintenance Strategies

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MAINTENANCE CONSIDERATIONS (Cont’d)

• Ensure a reliable invoicing system

• Ensure easy to maintain inventory system

• Monitor & evaluate server reports

• Watch disk usage

• Bandwidth consumption

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MONITORING WEBSITE TRAFFIC

• Dates & times of the hits• Visitor’s login name• Visitor’s IP address• Visitor’s host• Request• Name of the host• Cookies• Number of pageviews

Implementation & Maintenance: Maintenance Strategies

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Chapter 12

Implementation and Maintenance