Community Development and Training Centre Semester IT 245 Management Information Systems Chapter 3 Internetwork E-Business Electronic Business

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1 Community Development and Training Centre Semester IT 245 Management Information Systems Chapter 3 Internetwork E-Business Electronic Business Applications. Internetworked E-business enterprises are now deploying a range of applications that give them strategic capabilities in electronic business operations, enterprise communications and collaboration, and electronic commerce with businesses and consumers, and enable strategic alliances with their business partners. The Business Value of the Internet. Companies are deriving strategic business value from the Internet, which enables them to disseminate information globally, communicate and trade interactively with customized information and services for individual customers, and foster collaboration of people and integration of business processes within the enterprise and with business partners. These capabilities allow them to generate cost savings from using Internet technologies, revenue increases from electronic commerce, and better customer service and relationships through interactive marketing and customer relationship management. Applications of intranets. Businesses are rapidly installing and extending intranets and enterprise information portals throughout their organizations (1) to improve communications and collaboration among individuals and teams within the enterprise; (2) to publish and share valuable business information easily, inexpensively, and effectively via enterprise information portals and intranet websites and other intranet services; and (3) to develop and deploy critical applications to support business operations and management decision making.. Intranet Technology Resources. Intranets depend on all of the information technologies that make the Internet possible. Thus, companies must have or install Web browsers and servers, TCP/IP client/server networks; hypermedia database management systems, HTML Web publishing software, and network management and security software servers as part of the technology platform for their corporate intranets. The Business Value of lntranets. The early intranet applications of companies have demonstrated impressive returns, quick payback, and other strategic benefits. Major cost savings come from replacing company publications and documents on paper with electronic multimedia versions published to Web servers. Intranet-based employee training and customer service programs are also proving much more costeffective than traditional methods. The Role of Extra nets. The primary role of extranets is to link the intranet resources of a company to the intranets of its customers, suppliers, and other business partners. Extranets can also provide access to operational company databases and legacy systems to business partners, as well as limited access to intranet resources by consumers and others over the Internet. Thus, extranets provide significant business value by facilitating and strengthening the business relationships of a company with customers and suppliers, improving collaboration with its business partners, and enabling the development of new kinds of Webbased service for its customers, suppliers, and others. Enterprise Collaboration Systems. The goal of enterprise collaboration systems is to help us work together more efficiently and effectively as members of the many process and project teams and workgroups that make up many organizations today. Collaboration technologies help us to share information with each other (communication), coordinate our work efforts and resources with each other (coordination), and work together cooperatively on joint assignments (collaboration). Groupware Tools for Enterprise Collaboration. Groupware is collaborative software that helps teams and workgroups work together in a variety of ways. Groupware provides many software tools for electronic communications, electronic conferencing, and collaborative work management. 1

2 These are the key terms and concepts of this chapter. 1. Applications of extranets 2. Applications of intra nets 3. Business uses of the Internet 4. Business value of extranets 5. Business value of intranets 6. Business value of the Internet 7. Calendaring and scheduling 8. Chat systems 9. Collaborative work management tools 10. Data conferencing 11. Desktop videoconferencing 12. Discussion forums 13. Electronic business applications 14. Electronic commerce 15. Electronic communication tools 16. Electronic conferencing tools 17. Electronic mail 18. Electronic meeting systems 19. Enterprise collaboration 20. Enterprise information portal 21. Extranets 22. Faxing 23. Groupware 24. Internetworked E-business enterprise 25. Intranets 26. Intranet technology resources 27. Knowledge management 28. Task and project management 29. Team 30. Teleconferencing 31. Videoconferencing 32. Virtual teams 33. Voice conferencing 34. Voice mail 35. Web publishing 36. Whiteboarding 37. Workflow system 38. Workgroup Match one of the key terms and concepts listed previously with one of the brief examples or definitions that follow. Try to find the best fit for answers that seem to fit more than one term or concept. Defend your choices. 1. A company that is interconnected internally and externally by the Internet, intranets, and other networks with its business partners. 2. Applications include enterprise communication and collaboration, electronic commerce, and internal business systems. 3. Companies are using the Internet for electronic commerce and enterprise collaboration. 4. Companies are cutting costs, generating revenue, improving customer service, and forming strategic business alliances via the Internet. 5. Using websites to buy and sell products and services. 6. A Web-based interface helps intranet and extranet users access internal and external resources and services. 7. An Internet-like network within a company. 8. Networks that link some of the Internet resources of a company to the intranets of their customers or suppliers. 9. Intranets use Web browsers and servers: TCP/IP client/server networks, hypermedia databases at networked websites, and so on. 10. Intranets are being used to improve communications and collaboration, publish fund share information, and develop applications to support business operations and managerial decision making. 11. Extranets provide access to a company's operational databases and legacy systems by its customers and suppliers. 12. Extranets can facilitate and strengthen the collaboration and relationships between a company and its business partners. 13. Intranets have demonstrated impressive returns, quick payback, and other strategic benefits. 14. Enables you to automatically check the electronic calendars of team members to schedule a meeting. 15. Two or more users at networked PCs can carry on online, interactive text conversations. 16. Includes calendaring and scheduling, tasks and project management, and workflow systems. 2

3 17. Users at networked PCs can view, mark up, revise, and save changes to a shared whiteboard of drawings and documents. 18. Same as data conferencing. 19. Enables real-time audio and video conferences Videoconferencing among networked PC users. 21. Videoconferencing among participants in conference rooms or auditoriums. 22. Encourages online text discussions over a period of time among members of teams or special interest groups. 23. Includes , voice mail, faxing, and Web publishing. 24. Includes data conferencing, videoconferencing, voice conferencing, and discussion forums. 25. Widely used to send electronic text messages between networked PCs. 26. Helps to facilitate communication, collaboration, and group decision making in business meetings. 27. Information systems that use hardware, software, data, and network resources to help us work together more efficiently and effectively. 28. Transmitting or receiving images of documents. 29. Collaboration software for teams, workgroups, and the enterprise. 30. Organizing and sharing business information created within or imported into an organization. 31. Helps you schedule, track, and chart the status of tasks within a project. 32. A collaborative workgroup. 33. Telephone conversations shared among several participants. 34. Telephone messages to you are digitized, stored, and played back at your convenience. 35. Enterprise collaboration systems enable people from various business functions, locations, or companies to work together on a project. 36. Two or more people working together on the same task or assignment. 37. Creating, converting, and storing hyperlinked documents on Web servers. 38. Helps knowledge workers accomplish and manage the flow of structured work tasks and electronic documents in a business process. Discussion Questions 1. The internetworked E-business enterprise is the best model for the business use of information technology today. Do you agree or disagree? Why? 2. Do you think that business use of the Internet, intranets, and extranets has changed what business people expect from information technology in their jobs? Explain. 3. What is the business value driving so many companies to rapidly install and extend intranets and enterprise information portals throughout their organizations? 4. Refer to the Real World Case on Uniglobe and Allfirst Bank in the chapter. What other steps can E- commerce retailers take to reduce the abandonment of shopping processes by online visitors to a website? 5. What might be some of the limitations of using intranets in business today? 6. What strategic competitive benefits do you see in a company's use of extranets? 7. Refer to the Real World case on Groove Networks in the chapter. Is a product like Groove really necessary for collaboration on the Internet? Why or why not? 8. Do you agree that "today's users expect any computing experience to include on-demand Internet access and tools for collaborating with other people"? Why or why not? 9. Which of the 14 groupware tools summarized in Figure 3.32 do you feel are essential for any business to have today? Which of them do you feel are optional, depending on the type of business or other factor? Explain. 10. Do you use or Internet chat, or take part in any news groups or discussion forums? How well do any of those tools help your communication and collaboration with others? Explain. 3

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