Module I

Electronic Commerce: Overview, Definitions, Advantages & Disadvantages of E Commerce,

Threats of E-Commerce, Cyber Laws. Technologies: Relationship between E-Commerce and
Networking, Different Types of Networking for E-Commerce, internet, intranet, EDI Systems.
Wireless Application Protocol: Definition, Hand Held Devices, Mobility & Commerce. Mobile
Computing, Wireless Web, Web Security, Infrastructure Requirement for E Commerce. Business
Models of E-Commerce; Model Based on Transaction Type, Model Based onTransaction Party
B2B, B2C, C2B, C2C, E-Governance.

Module II

Convergence: Technological Advances in Convergence Types, Convergence and its

implications, Convergence and Electronic Commerce. Collaborative Computing: Collaborative
product development, Content Management: Definition of content, Authoring Tools and Content
Management, Content partnership, repositories, convergence, providers Web Traffic & Traffic
management: Content Marketing. Call Centre: Definition, Need, Tasks Handled, Mode of
Operation, Equipment, Strength & Weaknesses of Call Centre, Customer Premises Equipment
(CPE). Supply Chain Management: E-logistics, Supply Chain Portal, Supply Chain planning
Tools (SCP Tools), Supply Chain Execution (SCE), SCE on
Supply Chain Power.

Module III

E-Payment Mechanism; Payment through card system, E-Cheque, E-Cash, E-Payment Threats &
Protections, E-Marketing: Home shopping, E-Marketing, Tele-Marketing Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI): Meaning, Benefits, Concepts, Application, EDI Model, protocols (UN EDI
FACT / GTDI, ANSIX 12 Risk of E-Commerce: Overview, Security for E-Commerce,
Security Standards, Firewall, Cryptography, Key Management, Password Systems, Digital
Certificates, Digital Signatures

Module IV

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Features, capabilities and Overview of Commercial

Software, re-engineering work processes for IT applications, Business Process Redesign ,
Knowledge Engineering and Data Warehouse. Business Modules: Finance, Manufacturing
(Production), Human Resources, Plant Maintenance, Materials, Management, Quality
Management Sales & Distribution ERP Package ERP Market: ERP Market Place, SAP AG,
People Soft, BAAN, JD Edwards, Oracle Corporation.EAI(Enterprise application integration)
 Example: The purchase of goods that are then delivered by post or the booking of tickets
that can be picked up by the clients when they arrive at the event.

1.3 Advantages Of E-commerce:

Buying/selling a variety of goods and services from one's home or business
Anywhere, anytime transaction
Can look for lowest cost for specific goods or service
Businesses can reach out to worldwide clients - can establish business partnerships
Order processing cost reduced
Electronic funds transfer faster
Supply chain management is simpler, faster, and cheaper using ecommerce
- Can order from several vendors and monitor supplies.
- Production schedule and inventory of an organization can be inspected by
cooperating supplier who can in-turn schedule their work

1.4 Disadvantages Of E-commerce:

Electronic data interchange using EDI is expensive for small businesses
Security of internet is not very good - viruses, hacker attacks can paralise
e-commerce
Privacy of e-transactions is not guaranteed
 Universal standards
There is one set of There is one set of technical media standards technology standards,
namely Internet across the globe.
Richness
Video, audio, and text messages Video, audio, and text marketing messages are are
possible. integrated into a single marketing message and consuming experience.
Interactivity
The technology works Consumers are engaged in a dialog that through interaction with the
user. dynamically adjusts the experience to the individual, and makes the consumer a co-
participant in the process of delivering goods to the market.
Information density
The technology Information processing, storage, and reduces information costs and raises
quality. communication costs drop dramatically, while currency, accuracy, and timeliness
improve greatly. Information becomes plentiful, cheap, and accurate.
Personalization/Customization
The Personalization of marketing messages and technology allows personalized messages
to customization of products and services are be delivered to individuals as well as groups.
based on individual characteristics.
1.7 Business models of e-commerce:
There are mainly 4 types of business models based on transaction party.

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

In a Business-to-Consumer E-commerce environment, companies sell their online goods to

consumers who are the end users of their products or services. Usually, B2C E-commerce web
shops have an open access for any visitor, meaning that there is no need for a person to login in
order to make any product related inquiry.
Business-to-Business (B2B)

In a Business-to-Business E-commerce environment, companies sell their online goods to other

companies without being engaged in sales to consumers. In most B2B E-commerce
environments entering the web shop will require a log in. B2B web shop usually contains
customer-specific pricing, customer-specific assortments and customer-specific discounts.

Consumer-to-Business (C2B)

In a Consumer-to-Business E-commerce environment, consumers usually post their products or

services online on which companies can post their bids. A consumer reviews the bids and selects
the company that meets his price expectations.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

In a Consumer-to-Consumer E-commerce environment consumers sell their online goods to

other consumers. A well-known example is eBay.

1.8 E-Governance:
E-governance is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for
delivering government services, exchange of information communication transactions,
integration of various stand-alone systems and services between government-to-customer (G2C),
government-to-business (G2B), government-to-government (G2G) as well as back office
processes and interactions within the entire government framework.

Through e-governance, government services will be made available to citizens in a convenient,

efficient and transparent manner. The three main target groups that can be distinguished in
governance concepts are government, citizens and businesses/interest groups. In e-governance
there are no distinct boundaries.

Business - to - Government (B2G)

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by government to trade and
exchange information with various business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the
government and provide a medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.

Government - to - Business (G2B)

Government uses B2G model website to approach business organizations. Such websites support
auctions, tenders and application submission functionalities.

Government - to - Citizen (G2C)

Government uses G2C model website to approach citizen in general. Such websites support
auctions of vehicles, machinery or any other material. Such website also provides services like
registration for birth, marriage or death certificates. Main objectives of G2C website are to
reduce average time for fulfilling people requests for various government services.
1.9 Different Types of Networking For E-Commerce:
Internet:
The Internet is a global network of computers that allows people to send email, view web sites,
download files such as mp3 and images, chat, post messages on newsgroups and forums and
much more.

The Internet was created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S.
government in 1960's and was first known as the ARPANet. At this stage the Internet's first
computers were at academic and government institutions and were mainly used for accessing
files and to send emails. From 1983 onwards the Internet as we know it today started to form
with the introduction of the communication protocol TCP/IP to ARPANet. Since 1983 the
Internet has accommodated a lot of changes and continues to keep developing.

The last two decades has seen the Internet accommodate such things as network LANs and ATM
and frame switched services. The Internet continues to evolve with it becoming available on
mobile phones and pagers and possibly on televisions in the future.

Advantages of internet:
There many advantages to using the internet such as:
E-mail
Email is now an essential communication tool in business. It is also excellent for keeping in touch
with family and friends. The advantage to email is that it is free ( no charge per use) when compared
to telephone, fax and postal services.
Information
There is a huge amount of information available on the internet for just about every subject
known to man, ranging from government law and services, trade fairs and conferences, market
information, new ideas and technical support.
Services
Many services are now provided on the internet such as online banking, job seeking and
applications, and hotel reservations. Often these services are not available off-line or cost more.
Buy or sell products.
The internet is a very effective way to buy and sell products all over the world.
Communities communities of all types have sprung up on the internet. Its a great way to meet
up with people of similar interest and discuss common issues.
A Leading-Edge Image
Presenting your company or organization as leading-edge shows your customers and prospective
customers that you are financially strong, technologically savvy, and ready for the 21st century.
And that you care enough about your customers to take advantage of new technologies for their
benefit. And finally that you have the resources to support your clients in the most beneficial
manner possible.
More and more advertisers on television, radio, magazines, and newspapers are including a Web
address. Now is the time to avoid playing catch-up later.
Improved Customer Service
The companies are available to their customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Internet never
sleeps. Whenever customer needs information about any company, products or services, they can

Market Expansion
The Internet is a global system. Latest estimates are that there are about 40 million people with
access to the Internet, and this number is growing every day. By simply posting a Web Page you
are also addressing International markets.
Low Cost Marketing
Imagine developing a full color brochure without having to incur the costs of proofs, printers,
wasted paper, long lead times between revisions, and more. Then imagine a full color product or
services brochure that is interactive and which incorporates text, graphics, audio, and/or video.
One that can be immediately updated without incurring the usual costs of product material
updates.
Low Cost Selling
Without the cost of direct selling potential customers can get detailed information about your
products or services at any time. And they can easily order your products over the Internet, or
request additional information be sent to them via a request form on your Web page.
Lower Communication Costs
Your time, and your employees time, is valuable. Most businesses and organizations spend time
answering the same questions over and over again. With a Web page you can make the answers
Specific to product data

With product data an important addition is the handling of high volumes of geometry and
metadata. Exactly what techniques and technology is required depends on the level of

systems.

Specific to PLM and CAx collaboration

Collaboration using PLM and CAx tools requires technology to support the needs of:

1. People: Personnel of different disciplines and skill levels;

2. Organizations: Organizations throughout an enterprise or extended enterprise with
different rules, processes and objectives;
3. Data: Data from different sources in different formats.

Appropriate technologies are required to support collaboration across these boundaries.

People
Effective PLM collaboration will typically require the participation of people who do not
have high level CAD skills. This requires improved user interfaces including tailorable user
interfaces that can be tailored to the skill level and specialty of the user.
Improved visualization capabilities, especially those that provide a meaningful view of
complex information such as the results of a fluid flow analysis will leverage the value of
all participants in the collaboration process. Effective collaboration requires that a
participant be freed from the burden of knowing the intent history typically imbedded
within and constricting the use of parametric models.
Organizations
Community collaboration requires that companies, suppliers, and customers share
information in a secure environment, ensure compliance with enterprise and regulatory
rules and enforce the process management rules of the community as well as the individual
organizations.
In addition there is usually a disjoint between what the technology can do and what it is
actually used for.

Process

Every centre has a multitude of processes, but the biggest challenge that it faces is to
understand the end to end process from the customer perspective. The customer journey is
what happens from the point in time when a customer decides to contact you through to the
completion of that request or transaction. How long does this journey take and what does it
feel like taking the steps along the way. How long is spent waiting? Does the agent have the
customer details to hand? Can the agent answer the query first time? Does the fulfilment
when expected? One very easy but critical way of looking at the customer journey is to
mystery shop the centre and to see what it really feels like to be the customer. Put yourselves
in the shoes of your key customer demographic type and call your own centre today.

People

People are the most critical asset in a call centre as it is they who really deliver the business
performance. Unfortunately the investment and perception of your staff may be rather poor.
The people (Agents) often have to deal with difficult situations when things have gone wrong
in your organisation and deal with a large volumes of calls that result, whilst not always
having the necessary training or skills. However, the teams in Centres can be very resilient
and are often very social, making the centre a great place to work. There are many different
roles on offer and so they can a good environment to start and develop a career.

Finance and business management

There will be more management information statistics in a call centre than in any other part
of the organisation. The centre is measured from every different angle but unfortunately, this
does not always give a complete picture!

One of the most challenging roles is the planning, measuring and reviewing of performance
because so many centres are under pressure from calls and other expectations, that being able
to step back and take an objective view maybe difficult. Most centres are run to very tight
budgets so factors such as turnover of staff will have a huge impact.
 Deliver:
This is the part that many insiders refer to as logistics. Coordinate the receipt of orders from
customers, develop a network of warehouses, pick carriers to get products to customers and
set up an invoicing system to receive payments.

Return:
The problem part of the supply chain. Create a network for receiving defective and excess
products back from customers and supporting customers who have problems with delivered
products.

2.13 :

The performance of a supply chain is evaluated by how it reduces cost or increases value. SCM
performance monitoring is important; in many industries, the supply chain represents roughly 75
percent of the operating budget expense. Three common measures of performance are used when
evaluating SCM performance:
Efficiency focuses on minimizing cost by decreasing the inventory investment or value
relative to the cost of goods sold. An efficient firm is therefore one with a higher inventory

Responsiveness focuses on reduction in both inventory costs and missed sales that comes
with a faster, more flexible supply chain. A responsive firm is proficient in an uncertain
market environment, because it can quickly adjust production to meet demand.
Effectiveness of the supply chain relates to the degree to which the supply chain creates
value for the customer. Effectiveness-
because they focus more on creating customer value than reducing costs and improving
productivity.

To examine the effect of the Internet and electronic commerce on the supply chain is to examine
the impact the Internet has on the efficiency, responsiveness, effectiveness, and overall
performance of the supply chain.
2.14 Advantages of Internet/E-Commerce Integrated Supply Chain:
The primary advantages of Internet utilization in supply chain management are speed, decreased
cost, flexibility, and the potential to shorten the supply chain.
Speed:
A competitive advantage accrues to those firms that can quickly respond to changing
market conditions. Because the Internet allows near instantaneous transfer of information
between various links in the supply chain, it is ideally suited to help firms keep pace with
their environments. Many businesses have placed a priority upon real-time information
regarding the status of orders and production from other members of the supply chain.

Cost decrease:
Internet-based electronic procurement helps reduce costs by decreasing the use of paper
and labor, reducing errors, providing better tracking of purchase orders and goods delivery,
streamlining ordering processes, and cutting acquisition cycle times.
Flexibility:
The Internet allows for custom interfaces between a company and its different clients,
helping to cost-effectively establish mass customization. A manufacturer can easily create a
custom template or Web site for a fellow supply chain member with pre-negotiated prices
for various products listed on the site, making re-ordering only a mouse click away. The

and accounting departments. The

accuracy and reliability of the information is greater than the traditional paper and pencil
transaction, personnel time and expense is reduced, and the real-time dissemination of the
relevant information to interested parties improves responsiveness. These advantages can
benefit both firms involved in the transaction.
Shortening the supply chain:
Dell computers has become a classic example of the power the Internet can have on a
supply chain. Dell helped create one of the first fully Internet-enabled supply chains and
revolutionized the personal-computer industry by selling directly to businesses and
consumers, rather than through retailers and middlemen. In mid-1996, Dell began allowing
consumers to configure and order computers online. By 1998, the company recorded
 customers who spend more per transaction, Dell estimates that it yields 30 percent greater
profit margins on Internet sales compared to telephone sales.

2.15 Disadvantages of Internet/E-Commerce Integrated Supply Chain:

Increased interdependence:
Increased commoditization, increased competition, and shrinking profit margins are forcing
companies to increase outsourcing and subcontracting to minimize cost. By focusing on its
core competencies, a firm should be able to maximize its economies of scale and its
competitiveness. However, such a strategy requires increased reliance and information
sharing between members of the supply chain. Increased dependency on various members
of the supply chain can have disastrous consequences if these supply chain members are
unable to handle the functions assigned to them.

The costs of implementation:

Implementation of a fully-integrated Internet-based supply chain is expensive. This
expense includes hardware cost, software cost, reorganization cost, and training costs.
While the Internet promises many advantages once it is fully integrated into a supply chain,
a significant up front investment is needed for full deployment.

Keeping up with the change in expectations:

Expectations have increased as Internet use has become part of daily life. When customers
send orders electronically, they expect to get a quick confirmation and delivery or denial if
the order can not be met. Increasingly, in this and other ways, customers are dictating terms
and conditions to suppliers. The introduction of Internet-based supply chains make possible

has been the standard in most industries.

Why EDI?

EDI & Electronic Commerce

relationships by improving interchange of information between

trading partners, suppliers, & customers.
3.9 EDI layered architecture:

tructure layer

EDI semantic layer:

Requests for quotes

Price quotes
Purchase orders
Acknowledgments
Invoices

Standards translation:
 business form structure so that information can be exchanged

American National Standards Institute(ANSI)X12

EDIFACT developed by UN/ECE, Working Party for the Facilitation of
International Trade Procedures
EDI transport layer

-mail is the carrier

-mail
Emphasis on automation
EDI has certain legal status

Physical network infrastructure layer

-up lines, Internet, value-added network, etc.
Information flow with EDI:

1. Buyer sends purchase order to seller computer

2. Seller sends purchase order confirmation to buyer
3. Seller sends booking request to transport company
4. Transport company sends booking confirmation to seller
5. Seller sends advance ship notice to buyer
6. Transport company sends status to seller
7. Buyer sends Receipt advice to seller
worm is a program which replicates itself and causes execution of the new copy. These can
create havoc on the client side.
Server-side masquerading: Masquerading lures a victim into believing that the entity with
which it is communicating is a different entity. For example, if a user tries to log into a computer
across the internet but instead reaches another computer that claims to be the desired one, the
user has been spoofed. This may be a passive attack (in which the user does not attempt to
authenticate the recipient, but merely accesses it), but it is usually an active attack.
Communication channel threats
The internet serves as the electronic chain linking a consumer (client) to an e-commerce
resource. Messages on the internet travel a random path from a source node to a destination
node. The message passes through a number of intermediate computers on the network before
reaching the final destination. It is impossible to guarantee that every computer on the internet
through which messages pass is safe, secure, and non-hostile.
Confidentiality threats: Confidentiality is the prevention of unauthorized information
disclosure. Breaching confidentiality on the internet is not difficult. Suppose one logs onto a
website say www.anybiz.com that contains a form with text boxes for name, address, and e-
mail address. When one fills out those text boxes and clicks the submit button, the information is
sent to the web-server for processing. One popular method of transmitting data to a web-server is
to collect the text box responses and place them at the end of the target
captured data and the HTTP request to send the data to the server is then sent. Now, suppose the
user changes his mind, decides not to wait for a response from the anybiz.com server, and jumps
to another website instead say www.somecompany.com. The server somecompany.com may
choose to collect web demographics and log the URL from which the user just came
(www.anybiz.com). By doing this, somecompany.com has breached confidentiality by recording
the secret information the user has just entered.
Integrity threats: An integrity threat exists when an unauthorized party can alter a message
stream of information. Unprotected banking transactions are subject to integrity violations.
Cyber vandalism is an example of an integrity violation. Cyber vandalism is the electronic
defacing of an existing website page. Masquerading or spoofing pretending to be someone you
are not or representing a website as an original when it really is a fake is one means of creating
havoc on websites. Using a security hole in a domain name server (DNS), perpetrators can
substitute the address of their website in place of the real one to spoof website visitors. Integrity
threats can alter vital financial, medical, or military information. It can have very serious
consequences for businesses and people.
Availability threats: The purpose of availability threats, also known as delay or denial threats, is
to disrupt normal computer processing or to deny processing entirely. For example, if the
processing speed of a single ATM machine transaction slows from one or two seconds to 30
seconds, users will abandon ATM machines entirely. Similarly, slowing any internet service will
ites.
Server threats
The server is the third link in the client-internet-server trio embodying the e-commerce path
between the user and a commerce server. Servers have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by
anyone determined to cause destruction or to illegally acquire information.
Web-server threats: Web-server software is designed to deliver web pages by responding to
HTTP requests. While web-server software is not inherently high-risk, it has been designed with
web service and convenience as the main design goal. The more complex the software is, the
higher the probability that it contains coding errors (bugs) and security holes security
weaknesses that provide openings through which evildoers can enter.
Commerce server threats: The commerce server, along with the web-server, responds to
requests from web browsers through the HTTP protocol and CGI scripts. Several pieces of
software comprise the commerce server software suite, including an FTP server, a mail server, a
remote login server, and operating systems on host machines. Each of this software can have
security holes and bugs.
Database threats: E-commerce systems store user data and retrieve product information from
databases connected to the web-server. Besides product information, databases connected to the
web contain valuable and private information that could irreparably damage a company if it were
disclosed or altered. Some databases store username/password pairs in a non-secure way. If
someone obtains user authentication information, then he or she can masquerade as a legitimate
database user and reveal private and costly information.
Common gateway interface threats: A common gateway interface (CGI) implements the
transfer of information from a web-server to another program, such as a database program. CGI
and the programs to which they transfer data provide active content to web pages. Because CGIs
are programs, they present a security threat if misused. Just like web-servers, CGI scripts can be
set up to run with their privileges set to high unconstrained. Defective or malicious CGIs with
free access to system resources are capable of disabling the system, calling privileged (and
dangerous) base system programs that delete files, or viewing confidential customer information,
including usernames and passwords.
Password hacking: The simplest attack against a password-based system is to guess passwords.
Guessing of passwords requires that access to the complement, the complementation functions,
and the authentication functions be obtained. If none of these have changed by the time the
password is guessed, then the attacker can use the password to access the system.

3.15 Security Requirements For E-Commerce:

Authentication:

This is the ability to say that an electronic communication (whether via email or web) does
genuinely come from who it purports to.Without face-to-face contact, passing oneself off as
someone else is not difficult on the internet.
In online commerce the best defence against being misled by an imposter is provided by
unforgeable digital certificates from a trusted authority (such as VeriSign). Although anyone can
generate digital certificates for themselves, a trusted authority demands real-world proof of
identity and checks its validity before issuing a digital certificate. Only certificates from trusted
authorities will be automatically recognized and trusted by the major web browser and email
client software.
Authentication can be provided in some situations by physical tokens (such as a drivers license),
by a piece of information known only to the person involved (eg. a PIN), or by a physical
property of a person (fingerprints or retina scans). Strong authentication requires at least two or
more of these. A digital certificate provides strong authentication as it is a unique token and
requires a password for its usage.
Privacy:
In online commerce, privacy is the ability to ensure that information is accessed and changed
only by authorized parties. Typically this is achieved via encryption. Sensitive data (such as
credit card details, health records, sales figures etc.) are encrypted before being transmitted
across the open internet via email or the web. Data which has been protected with strong 128-
bit encryption may be intercepted by hackers, but cannot be decrypted by them within a short
time. Again, digital certificates are used here to encrypt email or establish a secure HTTPS
connection with a web-server. For extra security, data can also be stored long-term in an
encrypted format.

Authorization:
Authorization allows a person or computer system to determine if someone has the authority to
request or approve an action or information. In the physical world, authentication is usually
achieved by forms requiring signatures, or locks where only authorized individuals hold the
keys.
Authorization is tied with authentication. If a system can securely verify that a request for
information (such as a web page) or a service (such as a purchase requisition) has come from a
known individual, the system can then check against its internal rules to see if that person has
sufficient authority for the request to proceed.
In the online world, authorization can be achieved by a manager sending a digitally signed email.
Such an email, once checked and verified by the recipient, is a legally binding request for a
service. Similarly, if a web-server has a restricted access area, the server can request a digital
to identify the user and then determine if they should be given
access to the information a

Integrity:
Integrity of information means ensuring that a communication received has not been altered or
tampered with. Traditionally, this problem has been dealt with by having tight control over
access to paper documents and requiring authorized officers to initial all changes made a
system with obvious drawbacks and limitations. If someone is receiving sensitive information
online, he not only wants to ensure that it is coming from who he expects it to (authentication),
its contents altered. The
speed and distances involved in online communications requires a very different approach to this
problem from traditional methods.
One solutio
employee can send production orders with integrity to the central office by using their digital
certificate to sign their email. The signature includes a hash of the original message a brief
filters. Application firewalls work much like a packet filter but application filters apply
filtering rules (allow/block) on a per process basis instead of filtering connections on a
per port basis. Generally, prompts are used to define rules for processes that have not yet
received a connection. It is rare to find application firewalls not combined or used in
conjunction with a packet filter.

Also, application firewalls further filter connections by examining the process ID of data
packets against a ruleset for the local process involved in the data transmission. The
extent of the filtering that occurs is defined by the provided ruleset. Given the variety of
software that exists, application firewalls only have more complex rulesets for the
standard services, such as sharing services. These per process rulesets have limited
efficacy in filtering every possible association that may occur with other processes.

Proxy server:

A proxy server running either on dedicated hardware or as software on a general-purpose

machine may act as a firewall by responding to input packets (connection requests, for
example) in the manner of an application, while blocking other packets. A proxy server is
a gateway from one network to another for a specific network application, in the sense
that it functions as a proxy on behalf of the network user.

Proxies make tampering with an internal system from the external network more difficult
and misuse of one internal system would not necessarily cause a security breach
exploitable from outside the firewall. Conversely, intruders may hijack a publicly
reachable system and use it as a proxy for their own purposes; the proxy then
masquerades as that system to other internal machines. While use of internal address
spaces enhances security, crackers may still employ methods such as IP spoofing to
attempt to pass packets to a target network.
functional areas within the organization. Often, no one is responsible for the overall
performance of the entire process. Re-engineering maintains that optimizing the
performance of sub processes can result in some benefits, but cannot yield dramatic
improvements if the process itself is fundamentally inefficient and outmoded. For that
reason, re-engineering focuses on re-designing the process as a whole in order to achieve
the greatest possible benefits to the organization and their customers. This drive for
realizing dramatic improvements by fundamentally re-thinking how the organization's
work should be done distinguishes re-engineering from process improvement efforts that
focus on functional or incremental improvement.
 4.6 Knowledge Engineering:
Knowledge Engineering (KE) refers to all technical, scientific and social aspects involved in
building, maintaining and using knowledge-based systems.

There were essentially two approaches that were attempted:

1. Use conventional software development methodologies

2. Develop special methodologies tuned to the requirements of building expert systems

Many of the early expert systems were developed by large consulting and system integration
firms such as Andersen Consulting. These firms already had well tested conventional waterfall
methodologies (e.g. Method/1 for Andersen) that they trained all their staff in and that were
virtually always used to develop software for their clients. One trend in early expert systems
development was to simply apply these waterfall methods to expert systems development.

Another issue with using conventional methods to develop expert systems was that due to the
unprecedented nature of expert systems they were one of the first applications to adopt rapid
application development methods that feature iteration and prototyping as well as or instead of
detailed analysis and design. In the 1980s few conventional software methods supported this type
of approach.

The final issue with using conventional methods to develop expert systems was the need for
knowledge acquisition. Knowledge acquisition refers to the process of gathering expert
knowledge and capturing it in the form of rules and ontologies. Knowledge acquisition has
special requirements beyond the conventional specification process used to capture most
business requirements.

These issues led to the second approach to knowledge engineering: development of custom
methodologies specifically designed to build expert systems.[1] One of the first and most popular
of such methodologies custom designed for expert systems was the Knowledge Acquisition and
Documentation Structuring (KADS) methodology developed in Europe.
4.7 Business Modules In ERP:
The important modules in ERP are
Finance:
The entire concept of information technology is based on the premise that providing the
right information, to the right people, at the right timecan make a critical difference to the
organization.
Much of this key information could be taken from the financial data. But merely having
the financial data is not enough.
You need a set of processes and views of your data that provided up-to-the minute
financial information in exactly the form you need it to make that critical difference and
help with that critical decision.
Accounting software needs access to information in each area of organisation, from R&D
and market research through manufacturing, distribution and sales.
Financial solution must provide the management with information that can be leveraged
for strategic decisions, in order to achieve comprehensive advantage.

yo
organization's activities, whether your enterprise stretches across a room or around the
globe.
This is essential, because the most efficient way to get our enterprise to where you want it
tomorrow is to know exactly where it is today.
What ever be the financial goals of the organization, the financial application components
of the ERP solutions work hand-in-hand to improve the bottom line.
The Finance modules of the most ERP systems provide financial functionality and
analysis
support to thousands of businesses in many countries across the globe.
 By working with these applications the companies can work globally, lower the
administrative cost & improve the cash management.

It also provides strategic information to make timely & accurate decisions.

Oracle Projects:

These applications improve operational efficiency by providing an integrated

project management environment that supports the full lifecycle of a project and
increases the revenue growth and profitability.

Oracle Supply Chain:

This application manages the supply chain process by providing a single

integrated environment.

It helps in effective partner collaboration & supply chain optimization

capabilities.

It helps in increasing market share while improving customer service &

minimizing the cost.

Oracle Front Office:

These applications provide a better understanding for customer relationships, their

values & profitability

These applications increase top line revenues & maintain customer satisfaction &
retention

It also helps to attract and retain profitable customers through deployment

channels including mobile & call centre.

Oracle Human Resources:

This application helps in managing the human resources which directly improve
profitability and contribute to competitive advantage
specific and common formats. This is done in two steps: the adapter converts information from
the application's format to the bus's common format. Then, semantic transformations are applied
on this (converting zip codes to city names, splitting/merging objects from one application into
objects in the other applications, and so on).

Integration modules:

An EAI system could be participating in multiple concurrent integration operations at any given
time, each type of integration being processed by a different integration module. Integration
modules subscribe to events of specific types and process notifications that they receive when
these events occur. These modules could be implemented in different ways: on Java-based EAI
systems, these could be web applications or EJBs or even POJOs that conform to the EAI
system's specifications.

Support for transactions:

When used for process integration, the EAI system also provides transactional consistency across
applications by executing all integration operations across all applications in a single overarching
distributed transaction (using two-phase commit protocols or compensating transactions).

Disadvantages of EAI:

1. Constant change: The very nature of EAI is dynamic and requires dynamic project
managers to manage their implementation.
2. Shortage of EAI experts: EAI requires knowledge of many issues and technical aspects.
3. Competing standards: Within the EAI field, the paradox is that EAI standards themselves
are not universal.
4. EAI is a tool paradigm: EAI is not a tool, but rather a system and should be implemented
as such.
5. Building interfaces is an art: Engineering the solution is not sufficient. Solutions need to
be negotiated with user departments to reach a common consensus on the final outcome.
A lack of consensus on interface designs leads to excessive effort to map between various
systems data requirements.
6. Loss of detail: Information that seemed unimportant at an earlier stage may become
crucial later.
7. Accountability: Since so many departments have many conflicting requirements, there
should be clear accountability for the system's final structure.