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Module 2 : E- Business Models
1. Enterprise system foundation
Quick Rundown: Are you tired of managing multiple systems and spreadsheets? Then, say yes to Enterprise system Foundation. It can streamline your business processes with 2x efficiency and accuracy. Discover when it’s the right time to make the switch and how to navigate the transition. Enterprise systems are commercial software packages that allow transaction-oriented data and business processes within an enterprise throughout the whole supply chain for inter- organization. In our definition, enterprise systems are ERP applications that include associated bundles, such as advanced planning and scheduling, automation of sales teams, management of customer relationships, and configuration of goods. It appears that enterprise management systems have been a useful tool for businesses looking for package solutions. These commercial software packages promise the seamless integration of financial and accounting information, human resource information, supply chain information, customer information, and all the data flowing through a business. An enterprise system imposes its own logic on the policy, organization, and culture through its very existence. Even when a certain degree of business-unit segregation can be in its best interests, it drives a business towards full integration. And even though personalized processes can be a competitive advantage source, it drives a business towards generic strategies. If a company is rushing to install an enterprise system without first getting a good understanding of the business consequences, it can invite unwanted outcomes. A closer look at Enterprise System Foundation Complexity is at the core of the challenges that IT operations face. Traditional IT environments are growing, creating complicated problems for support personnel. IT operations require improved visibility, review, and automation to remain competitive. As several studies have shown, many implementations of enterprise systems struggle to achieve the intended benefits. Although theoretically compliant, the implementations often lack critical elements required to align system-wide operation and drive output. As a growing company ourselves, we have to ‘from time to time’ focus on various systems that make for complete management, boost efficiency, and help with record management while staying secure, simple, and cost-effective. We turn to IT experts to bring in such efficiency. When to adopt an Enterprise system? Before we start discussing how to adopt a package enterprise system, we need to discuss – why we need to go enterprise. Primarily, going enterprise means you are engaged on any or all of the given below:
- IT Governance
- IT Portfolio Management
- IT Services Management IT Governance is the way that provides us with unlimited options to select and implement systems that help us manage our Human Resources, Knowledge Base, Business Intelligence, Customer Records, Project Data, Source Files, and much more. CASE: SAP has been experimenting with various systems from as early as 2003 and has used a wide variety of CRM tools, Content Management Systems , Network Security Systems, and are currently using what would be considered the latest IT field has to offer. We are currently using Microsoft Sharepoint Services for much of our core management governance and various tools for peripheral corporate management activities. Our servers run on the cloud platform. We have somewhere around 500 servers combined in virtual and physical mode achieved through a complex operations management mode. We have executed over 5000 projects, and nearly a decade of customer data has to be managed, backed up, and updated according to times and needs. We employ enterprise management tools to the best we can. Part of our operational expenditure is dedicated to such systems. We gain from such investment in the form of security, systematization and reduced management efforts. Also, the knowledge pool acts as a weapon for decision support, and critical data gained through records management helps us form future strategies and grow from thereon. Going Enterprise It always begins with the identification of needs. It would be best to sum it up as a “Problem Statement” that generates an “opportunity” otherwise a need for IT systems implementation. In our case, the needs were mainly associated with ensuring steady business continuity – having the most updated data on hand to draw up reports and back up the systems by being secure. If you have your “Problem Areas” identified and would like to know how to overcome them using IT systems, we are here to help. CASE : ZOHO specializes in several systems, including Microsoft Dynamics , SharePoint Server, Commerce Server, and BizTalk ESB. Using these systems, zoho offer the following:
- Data Warehousing Systems
- Single Sign-in Dashboards to access multiple applications
- Enterprise Commerce Systems
- Enterprise Content Management Systems
- Master Data Management Systems
- There are laws that specify how to achieve a legally binding agreement when the contract terms are presented and agreed to electronically.
- Data protection requirements are important when doing business online. Examples of e-commerce Online stores of multichannel retailers, Sharing economy platforms like rideshares, and Social media sites like Facebook. Evolution Over 80 per cent of large companies have their own Web sites and make use of electronic mail. Our analysis suggests that companies evolve their Internet Commerce activities through six stages:
- The World-Wide Web as an online product catalogue - this has the advantage (or should!) of being up-to-date and readily accessible. The best have guided interaction (e.g. http://www.xerox.com/products.html)
- Pre-sales support through electronic mail - providing prompt and informed repsonse to the queries of potential buyers (this means going beyond simply emailing the Webmaster, but having the active involvement of many staff)
- Full transaction processing for placing orders - ideally through a 'secure server'
- Delivery of product or product update information - some products (e.g. software, documents) can be delivered online. For others, customers can be kept informed of new developments
- Collecting details of prospective customers' interests - typically through forms. This stage is more fully developed when these are handled in a database and targetted offers can be sent to those registered Note: those sites that demand that users complete lengthy registration forms before you can enter them do not fulfil this criteria
- Provision of interactive discussion facilities for customers with shared interest - developing online 'communities' will be a key way of engendering ongoing loyalty.
Our analysis shows that certain products and markets have characteristics that lend themselves more readily to Internet commerce. These include:
- Information-intensive products
- Medium to high value
- Global in applicability
- May require sourcing or delivering at a distance
- Often highly specialised
- Dispersed potential customer base
- Are attractive to Internet early adopters Hence the markets that have actively used Internet Commerce since its inceptions have included been - computers, software, specialist cars, flowers, books, music, travel Opportunities and Benefits Those who trade via the Internet cite the following benefits:
- Timeliness - Your Web site is accessible round the clock. Email queries can be handled more expeditiously and completely than is often possible by mail or phone.
- Reduced Marketing Costs - Online catalogues are cheapre to produce and maintain that paper catalogues.
- Better Targetting - Internet communities are self selecting. People with particular interests tend to visit particaulr places in Cyberspace. Customers find you, rather than vice versa.
- Greater Market Reach - Distance is no object. Sending information or exchanging messages costs virtually the same as someone locally. You don't need to pay expensive courier bills.
- Reduced communications costs - With electronic networking it cost virtually the same to send a message to 100 people as to one.
- Improved After Sales Service - By providing online support, customers can serve themselves for many of the common post-sales information needs. There are particular opportunities for those who have specialised markets, or wish to expand their market base without the cost of opening new offices. There are also opportunities created by the medium itself - for example for Internet intermediaries (directory and trading services), and novel ways of providing access e.g. kiosks in public areas.
Those who have focussed on electronic transactions cite a number of issues. Some challenges and potential solutions are:
- Bandwidth - There is concern that as usage of the Internet grows exponentially, that there will be insufficent bandwidth and it will grind to a halt. However, various analysts have shown that, in general, market forces will enable capacity to keep up with demand, though it may be patchy in places. Solutions: Some suppliers are talking of multi-tiered services with premium pricing guanteeing faster levels of service.
- Authentification - When orders are placed over a network the buyer needs reassurance that it was an authorized transaction and actually comes from who it purports. Solutions: Electronic signatures, trusted third party validation.
- Security - Both parties want assurance that their confidential transaction details have not been intercepted. Solutions: Encryption, secure servers.
- Legislation Harmonisation - Under which jurisdiction does a transaction take place- the location of buyer, seller or server? Issues like these are the subject of policy debate.
- Payment - How can someone set up simple, reliable and risk free mechanisms for payment, in multiple currencies and without hefty bank charges? Solutions: Electronic cash mechanisms, new Internet protocols such as SET (Secure Electronic Transactions), virtual banks.
3 Electronic Data Interchange
What is EDI? EDI, which stands for electronic data interchange, is the intercompany communication of business documents in a standard format. The simple definition of EDI is that it is a standard electronic format that replaces paper-based documents such as purchase orders or invoices. Organizations can save time and reduce errors by automating paper-based transactions. In EDI transactions, information moves directly from a computer application in one organization to a computer application in another. EDI standards define the location and order of information in a document format. Sharing data is now faster and easier with this automated capability, compared to using paper documents or other traditional methods that can take hours, days or even weeks. Today, industries use EDI integration to share a range of document types, from purchase orders to invoices to requests for quotations to loan applications and more. In most instances, these organizations are trading partners that exchange goods and services frequently as part of their supply chains and business-to-business (B2B) networks. How EDI works
EDI message standards define all EDI transactions. It is vital to have proper governance processes for data quality. When information is missing or in the wrong place, the EDI document might not be processed correctly. Standards are the basis of EDI conversations.¹ Several organizations define the EDI message standards, including ODETTE, TRADACOMS, GS1, Peppol and the Accredited Standard Committee X12 (ASC X12). In general, EDI transmission has 2 basic types:
- Point-to-point or direct connections: Two computers or systems connect with no intermediary over the internet, generally with secure protocols.
- Value-added network (VAN): A third-party network manages data transmission, generally with a mailboxing paradigm. EDI internet transmission protocols include Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), Applicability Statement 2 or AS2, an HTTPS-based protocol, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and others. EDI data elements include items such as sender ID and receiver ID. Data segments combine two or more related elements to give them greater meaning. For example, FNAME and LNAME can combine to form CUSTOMERNAME. Envelopes structure different types of data and carry the sender and receiver address information. EDI document flow or message flow describes the movement of EDI messages to various inbound and outbound addresses and departments to execute a business process or transaction. Metalanguages such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) complement EDI rather than replace it. Companies must be ready to handle an ever- increasing number of document formats and transmission options. One global manufacturer routinely exchanges about 55 different document types with nearly 2,000 partners. Benefits of EDI EDI transactions are essential to B2B processes and continue to be the preferred means to exchange documents and transactions between businesses both small and large. EDI technology delivers five key business benefits through automation and B2B integration:
- EDI technology saves time and money through the automation of a process that was previously manually run with paper documents.
- EDI solutions improve efficiency and productivity because more business documents are shared and processed in less time with greater accuracy.
- EDI data transfer reduces errors through rigid standardization, which helps to ensure that information and data are correctly formatted before they enter business processes or applications.
- Integration of EDI improves traceability and reporting by allowing electronic documents to be incorporated with various IT systems, facilitating data collection, visibility and analysis.
- Efficient EDI automation enables reliable product and service delivery for a positive customer experience.
- Blockchain technology underpinning EDI information flows for shipments to offer a shared version of the truth that can quickly resolve and even avoid chargeback disputes.
- An AI agent that monitors all relevant events and information that are connected to a shipment and can identify a noncompliant event. AI agents can also determine whether a reshipment is necessary, analyze the most efficient source of replacement, initiate a new shipment and accept an authorized return.
4 I-Marketing / Digital Marketing
What Is Digital Marketing? Digital marketing is the use of websites, apps, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other digital means to promote and sell products and services. Digital marketing involves many of the same principles as traditional marketing and is often considered an additional way for companies to approach consumers and understand their behavior. Companies often combine traditional and digital marketing techniques in their strategies. But digital marketing also comes with its own set of challenges. Digital marketing started to become popular with the widespread adoption of the internet in the 1990s. Key Takeaways
- Digital marketing promotes products and services through channels such as websites, mobile devices, and social media platforms.
- Digital marketers have a number of tools to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.
- One of the biggest challenges digital marketers face is how to set themselves apart in a world that is oversaturated with digital ads and other distractions. How Digital Marketing Works Marketing encompasses a wide range of techniques and media that companies can use to promote their products and services to potential consumers and improve their market share. To be successful, it requires a combination of advertising and sales savvy. Professional marketers take on these tasks either internally at individual companies or externally at marketing firms that may serve many different clients. Companies once focused on marketing through print, television, and radio because that was all they had. Although those options still exist, the internet gave companies another way to reach consumers and gave rise to digital marketing. The new technologies and trends forced companies to change their marketing strategies and rethink their budgets. Email became a popular marketing tool in the early days of digital marketing. Then the focus shifted to search engines like Netscape, which allowed businesses to tag and keyword items to get themselves noticed. The development of social platforms like Facebook made it possible for companies to track user data and deliver their messages to very specific audiences.
Smartphones and other portable devices now make it easier for companies to market their products and services to consumers wherever those consumers happen to be. A 2022 Pew Research Center study found that 76% of American adults had made online purchases using their phones. Digital marketing can be interactive, unlike traditional print or television advertising. Types of Digital Marketing Channels Digital marketing channels have evolved since the 1990s and continue to do so. Here are eight of the most common channels in use today. Website Marketing Companies often use their own website as the centerpiece of their digital marketing activities. The most effective websites represent the brand and its products and services in a clear and memorable way. A website today must be fast-loading, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. Pay-Per-Click Advertising Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising enables marketers to reach audiences on news and other websites and digital platforms through paid ads. Marketers can set up PPC campaigns on Google, Bing, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, and Facebook and show their ads to people searching terms related to their products or services. These campaigns can segment users based on their demographic characteristics (such as age or gender), or their particular interests or location. The most widely used services for PPC are Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Content Marketing The goal of content marketing is to reach potential customers through the use of written, visual, or video content that interests them. That content is usually published on a website and then promoted through social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, or even pay-per-click campaigns. Content marketing attempts to be more subtle than advertising, and the product or service the sponsor is attempting to market may or may not be conspicuously highlighted. Email Marketing Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing channels, though many people associate it with spam and treat such messages accordingly. Many digital marketers use their other digital marketing channels to collect names for their email lists. Then, through email marketing, they try to turn those leads into customers. Social Media Marketing The primary goals of a social media marketing campaign are to build brand awareness and establish trust. As you go deeper into social media marketing, you can use it to obtain leads and as a direct marketing or sales channel. Promoted posts and tweets are two examples of social media marketing. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing, and the digital world has given it new life. In affiliate marketing, companies and individual "influencers" promote another company's products and get a commission every time a sale is made or a fresh lead is added to
A digital marketing agency is a company that deals exclusively in marketing to consumers or businesses through digital channels. This includes creating and launching campaigns for clients through social media, pay-per-click advertising, videos, and custom websites, among other means. What Is SEO in Digital Marketing? Search engine optimization (SEO) describes a variety of techniques that companies use in an effort to increase traffic to their website and raise its position in search results. The higher a site appears on the search results page, the more likely consumers are to see it and potentially click to visit it. What Is Internet Marketing? Technically, internet marketing is marketing that takes place solely on the internet. As such, it is a subset of digital marketing, which can use many different kinds of digital platforms, including the internet, to reach its desired audience. How Can You Become a Digital Marketer? Digital marketers need strong writing and social media skills, along with a good understanding of data analytics. A bachelor's degree is required for most digital marketing positions. You might also want to take digital marketing courses or participate in a digital "boot camp." In addition, completing an internship while in school can be useful.2 A master's degree in digital marketing may be useful but is not considered essential. What Skills Are Needed in Digital Marketing? Strong communication skills are essential if a marketer is going to be successful in telling a company or product's story to potential customers. Data analytics skills are also important for understanding how well a marketing campaign is performing and where it might be improved. Finally, social media skills are another must. What Is Implicit Bias in Digital Marketing? Implicit bias, also known as unconscious bias, refers to messages that unintentionally convey negative stereotypes or derogatory attitudes toward certain groups. In recent years it has come in for particular notice in the fields of advertising and marketing. In digital marketing it may manifest itself in something as simple as the choice of stock photos for a marketing campaign. For instance, without even thinking about it, companies may use images of only heterosexual White individuals while excluding Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, along with those of different body types and abilities. While digital marketers often use supposedly unbiased algorithms to help craft their campaigns, those algorithms are created by human beings who may bring their own unconscious biases to them.
5 E Commerce Marketplace
Types of eCommerce marketplaces and their challenges How many products have you started buying online vis-à-vis offline buying in the recent few years? It is convenient and cost-effective as customers have more choices. The popularity of ecommerce services has increased by 46% since the pandemic, thanks to consumers’
massive shift in purchasing habits. On the business side, this has resulted in increased competition among e-commerce marketplaces where suppliers can list their products and services to reach a wider audience. As a result, e-commerce players are increasingly looking for e-commerce marketplace management services. Famous eCommerce marketplaces to Sell Your Products Some of the well-known eCommerce marketplaces globally are:
- Amazon
- eBay
- Etsy
- Walmart
- Decathlon
- Kroger
- StockX
- Houzz
- Newegg
- Fruugo Some of the well-known e-commerce marketplaces in India are:
- Flipkart
- Meesho
- Myntra
- Snapdeal
- Pepperfry
- ShopClues
- Limeroad
- Horizontal: In a horizontal marketplace, several vendors with different products come together but have one distinct feature. For example, trsrentelco.com is a marketplace that offers electronic testing equipment for sale and rent from various brands under one roof, catering to the e commerce business needs.
- Global: This is a 360-degree marketplace that offers unlimited products from numerous vendors globally. A perfect example of this would be Amazon.com. Based on the target audience
- Business-to-business (B2B): In this marketplace, one business offers its services and products to other businesses. The aim is not to find as many clients as possible but to create robust supply chains and long-term relationships. Examples of such marketplaces are Justdial.com and Indiamart.com.
- Business-to-customer (B2C): B2C marketplaces deal directly with the end customers. Here, the main goal is to acquire as many customers as they can to generate sales. Examples are Amazon.com, eBay.com, and Aliexpress.com.
- Customer-to-customer (C2C): This marketplace connects the seller directly with the buyer and lets them negotiate for the products or services. An example of a C2C marketplace is Semexe.com. Challenges in Selling on Online Marketplaces & e Commerce marketplace Running a marketplace and doing so successfully is no easy task. The challenges are many, from getting the right customers and sellers to price wars with competitors and online fraud.
- Data security: Online marketplaces hold the personal data of millions of customers, making them susceptible to cyberattacks, especially in the e commerce business. Marketplaces need robust security systems to avoid data breaches through brute force attacks.
- Customer loyalty: It is difficult and expensive to acquire customers, but it is easy to lose them if you lack a retention strategy. With a bunch of choices available, it is a buyer’s market in the world of online sales.
- Price competition: Marketplaces not only have to compete with other marketplaces but also provide the right balance of price so that they can serve both the supplier and the customer appropriately.
- Inventory management: Businesses must forecast the demand in real time to prevent shortfall or overstocking products in their warehouses.
- Return, refunds, and fulfilment: Fulfilment is just the first step in the process of starting to sell online. Managing refunds and returns and taking care of possible fraud is another. Marketplaces need technology to track returns and refunds and avoid fraud. For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliver and exceed organisational expectations with a robust digital mindset backed by
innovation. Enabling businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve like living organisms will be imperative for business excellence. A comprehensive yet modular suite of services is doing precisely that. Equipping organisations with intuitive decision-making automatically at scale, actionable insights based on real-time solutions, anytime/anywhere experience, and in- depth data visibility across functions leading to hyper-productivity, Live Enterprise is building connected organisations that are innovating collaboratively for the future.
6 E-Collaboration Market Place
An "e-commerce collaboration marketplace" refers to an online platform where businesses can connect with each other to buy and sell products, often facilitating collaborations between sellers, suppliers, and even competitors, allowing them to share resources, pool inventory, and collectively reach a wider customer base; prominent examples include Amazon Marketplace, Alibaba, Walmart Marketplace, and eBay where multiple sellers can list their products on a single platform to access a larger customer pool. Key points about e-commerce collaboration marketplaces:
- Multiple sellers on one platform: The core feature is allowing various businesses to sell their products through a single online marketplace, reaching a broader audience beyond their individual customer base.
- B2B focus: Most collaboration marketplaces are primarily designed for business-to- business transactions, where companies buy goods in bulk from other businesses.
- Benefits of collaboration: o Increased reach: Access to a wider customer base through the marketplace platform. o Improved efficiency: Streamlining the procurement process by connecting with multiple suppliers in one place. o Cost optimization: Potential for bulk discounts and better pricing due to increased buying power. Some popular e-commerce collaboration marketplaces:
- Amazon Marketplace: A widely used platform where third-party sellers can list their products alongside Amazon's own inventory.
- Alibaba: Primarily a B2B marketplace focused on wholesale trade, connecting manufacturers and distributors globally.
- Walmart Marketplace: Allows sellers to access Walmart's vast customer base by listing products on their platform.
The Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework user interface lets developers define all the metadata required to create a custom integrator, accessing design information from the associated Oracle E-Business Suite application as needed. The integrator metadata is stored in the Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator metadata repository, alongside the metadata for seeded integrators. When a user downloads or uploads data between Oracle E-Business Suite and a desktop document, the runtime integrator services for Oracle Web Applications Desktop Integrator use the metadata stored in the repository to perform the specified task in the associated Oracle E-Business Suite application. Process Flow for Integrator Definition An integrator is a set of metadata that encapsulates all the information needed to integrate a particular Oracle E-Business Suite task with a desktop application.
- You can define integrators that only download data from Oracle E-Business Suite into a desktop document and do not upload data. The document serves as a report of the Oracle E-Business Suite data that can be viewed in the desktop application. This type of integrator is called a reporting-only integrator.
- You can also define integrators that create a desktop document and then upload data from that document into Oracle E-Business Suite. An integrator can create a document in one of these ways. o Create a blank document that is laid out and formatted according to an Oracle E-Business Suite application's business rules but contains no data. Users must enter all data into the document manually. o Create a document that is initially populated with data from a text file. Users can work with the data in the desktop application before uploading it to Oracle E-Business Suite.
o Create a document that is initially populated with data downloaded from Oracle E-Business Suite through a SQL query or Java class. Users can work with the data in the desktop application before uploading it back to Oracle E- Business Suite. Process Flow for Integrator Definition Oracle E-Business Suite Desktop Integration Framework provides a wizard interface to guide you through the main steps for defining integrators. In the integrator definition wizard, you can perform the following tasks:
- Define basic integrator properties.
- Define an interface for the integrator. An interface is a set of metadata that determines how the integrator uploads data from a desktop document to Oracle E-Business Suite. An interface attribute defines a single data column within the interface. You do not need to define an interface for a reporting-only integrator.
- Define contents for the integrator. A content is a set of metadata that determines what data the integrator uses to populate the desktop document that it creates. A content column defines a single data column within the content. You can define these content types: o Text File - Populate the desktop document with data from a text file. o SQL Query - Populate the desktop document with data from a SQL query that selects from Oracle E-Business Suite application tables. o Java - Populate the desktop document with data returned by a Java class from Oracle E-Business Suite application tables. You should always define at least one SQL query or Java content for a reporting-only integrator. If you want the integrator to create a blank document initially, then you do not need to define a content for the integrator.
