Report 2

Extract from E-commerce business case prepared by HPMG

HPMG have written a comprehensive business case for the E-commerce project. The following information has been extracted from the document they prepared.

There are two major phases in this project:

the introduction of business-to-business Internet systems b2b

allowing the public to order across the Internet.

………we expect that in the future all b2b activity will be carried out across the Internet. That is, all the ordering from suppliers, activating mobile phones, and support of corporate customers will be Internet-based………We expect 60% of sales to the public to be Internet based……

…It may be possible to start with a basic site that simply lists the products that are available and allows customers to order phones and pay by credit card. However, several of 4phones’ competitors are moving into the more advanced phases of Internet commerce and we recommend that 4phones attempts to leap-frog them into the latest Internet technologies…….

….we would recommend that during the next few months, while the e-commerce system is being ramped up, any new software acquisitions are either placed on hold or they are selected for their Internet capabilities. For example many financial systems are now accessed via a web browser and full functionality is provided to a web-based client…..

…4phones will need to provide secure areas that can be accessed by business partners only. There will also be public areas and customer areas. The customer data kept will include confidential information such as credit card and billing details.

…..It is likely that the smaller franchisees will wish to avail themselves of the 4phones Internet facilities and we should consider the possibility of hosting specific franchisee services to maintain that close relationship….

…the move to the Internet will require a change in the IT skills that current staff have. It is likely that some staff will be re-trained but there may be a need to recruit new staff or contractors. Experienced and skilled staff are in high demand and short supply….

System overview

In order to ensure that the e-commerce system may be implemented as soon as possible it has been decided to develop a completely new system that will only have links to existing databases to share data.

The system will be developed in JavaVB, a new programming language designed to speed up development time. The main modules required will be:

Web-Inventory (WEBIN). This will show photographs of the products and also have links to descriptions and technical details of each item. There will be links to the current inventory system and every hour this will be accessed and the current stock quantities will be transferred to WEBIN. The current inventory system will still be considered our main inventory record.

Web-Order (WEBORD). Franchisees and eventually customers will be able to place orders on the Internet. When an order is placed the quantity will be deducted from available stock in WEBIN. Every 10 minutes the WEBORD system will transmit data to our current ordering system and these will be processed as if they were normal orders.

Web-Progress (WEBPROG). Franchisees will be able to check on the progress of their orders and identify where in the delivery chain their order is. Initially the current distribution system will provide updates to the WEBPROG database every hour. It will be this database that the franchisee interrogates.

Web-Report. (WEBREP). Franchisees will be able to access this system and obtain reporting information about their sales and customers for the current period and for monthly histories. This will let them interrogate the data to identify the products they have sold, types of customers, buying patterns, etc. We will also provide them with prospective customer information that arises as a result of promotions and advertising. Most of this information will come from the current financial system on a monthly basis.

A diagram that shows the connections between modules follows: