The major hardware and software components
The features of the Hardware and Software modules, the Service Level Requirements, and the management and operation of the e-commerce systems are all determined by the E-Commerce Infrastructure. The procedures and frameworks that will enable the firm to effectively deploy e-commerce are described in this area of the business strategy. It is a standard inside the industry that covers topics like service providers and compliance frameworks like PCI DSS (Larsson et al., 2021).
Infrastructure services include support services for e-commerce. Any typical e-commerce organization would need numerous services to collaborate in order to supply certain functional aspects to the business. Services like user authentication, payment processing, and order validation, among others, are useful while customers are checking out merchandise.
Depending on the services they provide to the target firm, the infrastructure services are likewise specialized. Users have access to a number of services that are concerned with networks, payments, directories, and even security.
The business may choose e-commerce solution providers that provide an end-to-end solution if its implementation crew has to be expanded.
Hardware: The corporation may connect its LAN to the internet and have access to the rest of the world thanks to technology and software. With this technology, data may be kept, obtained, and utilized. Some instances of essential hardware include:
Personal computers/workstations, hubs, routers, and data centers are examples of devices.
The servers, which include the proxy, web, and application servers, provide crucial functionality for other programs.
Software needed for e-commerce includes administration and analytical tools for assessing the company’s business and service suppliers.
Administration services
The e-commerce sector will need solutions to handle services like content databases and resources. The necessary corporate solutions include things like ERP, CMS, and database management systems like Microsoft SQL Server (Sokiyna et al., 2020). With the use of these technologies, effective resource management is made feasible.
Analytics software
E-commerce is a fiercely competitive sector that calls for better system performance and data analysis. The effectiveness of the company’s text and e-commerce presence may be evaluated using other technologies like web analytics and text analytics.
Middleware
Software called middleware serves as a bridge between applications and operating systems. Middleware’s job is to make it easier for the operating system and its associated applications to communicate and handle data. Applications that would not otherwise be able to exchange data with databases and software tools might benefit from this. It contains specialized servers, communication protocols, data access components, or a mix of all three.
A protocol or tool called the application program interface (API) is used to create software applications and specify how the different software solution modules and components will communicate with one another.
Network
Communication between users, business procedures, software, services, external networks, and the e-commerce network itself is possible. It includes internet connection into the numerous operations and gadgets.
The network will have firewalls implemented to defend against external threats and provide the business control over the kind of traffic that is permitted, enhancing security.
Using load balancers in e-commerce, the burden on the company’s web or application servers may be spread. Demands for workload are dispersed depending on the kind of work that has to be done. A Domain Name System (DNS) is also required for e-commerce since it converts a company’s domain name to an IP address.
When choosing an e-commerce infrastructure to support the firm’s e-commerce business plans and allow effective operation, factors such as flexibility, usability, scalability, and security that increase corporate income are taken into account (Pereira et al.,2023).
The company’s shops are connected over an MPLS network. It will employ Microsoft Office 2016 and SAP’s ERP system in addition to specialist design tools for administrative functions. It is essential to update SAP’s current version. A data center in the company’s head office or main store should hold redundant Active Directory servers, email, files, printing, and other servers. Satellite stores should house additional servers. Each store has an EMC Storage Area Network device and redundant backup appliances in the head store, where data may be cycled between the SANS for further redundancy.
A cloud-based mobile device management (MDM) or bring your own device (BYOD) solution is not yet available. If Microsoft Office 2016 and the Oracle ERP system were added to the IT infrastructure, issues with data versioning and interoperability between the parent firm and the joint venture may develop. Microsoft Server 2016 is installed on all of the new HP workstations and laptops used by the business for online sales. The corporation provides iPhones to key workers so they may access the network from wherever.
Versions of the SAP ERP software that are more recent than those used by the parent firm may be required for third-party integrations, such as those with suppliers. Microsoft Office 2016 and Windows 10 should be installed on a desktop computer. It makes use of Cisco switching and routing technologies as well as a firewall setup at the gateway. HP offers both end-user gadgets and servers. With the aid of AirWatch, a mobile device management (MDM) solution from VMWare that works with both Apple and Samsung smartphones, the organization has implemented a BYOD policy.
IT Infrastructure Design Optimization for Business Goals
A cloud solution or enterprise cloud is an excellent and trustworthy option that the firm should choose for its business users since it provides a seamless transfer from the present infrastructure to the cloud environment. The cloud platform will help the company’s business activities function more efficiently and effectively. After putting the ERP on the cloud, the firm will be able to expand its infrastructure both vertically and horizontally with no impact on the business. By automating repetitive operations, a strong IT framework will be created, freeing up already available IT resources. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are used by cloud providers to bolster corporate networks and provide organizations a competitive advantage.
Database, computers, and servers
E-commerce success is based on the servers’ and computers’ hardware and software components. These servers and databases are part of the internal infrastructure that the suppliers of e-Commerce solutions have built up. Within the firm, there is some infrastructure sharing.
Store for mobile applications
Mobile devices that run the operating system and application software required to conduct online financial transactions include tablet computers and smartphones. Mobile devices may be powered by a variety of operating systems, such as Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile. The mobile apps for the e-commerce company will work on a variety of mobile devices.
Electronic libraries
With the capacity to store text, photos, audio, and video files as well as the instruments to organize, save, and retrieve these files and media, the Digital Library contains a specialized collection of digital objects. Digital libraries for the e-commerce systems will be stored both locally and on the cloud, making them accessible at all times from any location.
Data Transfer
The Data Interchange, an electronic data transmission that links the parties engaged in e-commerce (Users, solution Vendors, Payment Gateway, and Bank), ensures the accuracy of the data transmitted between them. It includes the standards and norms that are unique to the company to allow effective and thorough communication.
Modules for mobile applications and e-commerce systems
The ticketing Module displays the promotional part of the online store and enables the firm to draw customers by dispersing coupons, sales tickets, and vouchers.
The Frontend Module presents all of the business’s goods and services in the form of catalogs, making it easy for customers to obtain the details they want about the goods and services the business provides.
Through effective digital client connection, the Advertising and Marketing Module enables the e-commerce firm to manage its marketing operations.
Information about the business, its shops, and any current promotions or special offers are provided under the Support and Information component.
Payments made through POS terminals, credit cards, SMS, and direct mobile payments are all included in the payment module.
A security design with potential security flaws
The weakest point in the e-commerce system is a security weakness, which makes it simple for thieves to steal money, merchandise, or consumers’ private information. Understanding the most common security flaws may help eCommerce infrastructure (web platforms and apps) greatly, reduce losses, and ensure the security of the business’ operations.
Examples of probable security flaws include the following:
Monetary frauds
The habit of fraudsters starting illegal transactions and subsequently erasing all evidence of their activity is one of the most prevalent weaknesses in eCommerce systems. By generating a false email address, user account, IP address, and name, they may pretend to be a valid user. One approach to solving this problem is to integrate trusted and validated payment systems with e-commerce platforms. Additionally, the business has the right to require users to log in to the system before proceeding with a transaction. Financial fraud may cause the organization enormous losses, and it may be difficult to detect. Businesses may lessen their susceptibility to financial theft by putting in place strict authentication protocols and monitoring systems.
Spam assaults
Emails continue to be an online security vulnerability that hackers may simply exploit despite their widespread usage. When spammers include malicious links in their communications, they run the danger of slowing down e-commerce systems, revealing sensitive information, and obtaining access to private customer data. Unwanted communications may be filtered out using anti-spam software.
Fraud through triangulation
It comprises creating phony user interfaces that mimic real e-commerce interfaces in terms of appearance and functionality while offering discounted prices on the same products. Triangulation fraud harms consumers’ ability to trust businesses and to gain their loyalty. Even though it may be difficult to stop fraudsters from creating similar platforms, a simple information letter highlighting the real domain of the company’s eCommerce platform is an excellent way to protect customers from being taken advantage of.
Application setup errors on the web
To service their clients, e-commerce companies will need a wide variety of web applications. Web applications provide secure online payment options, details about goods and services, and a shopping cart in addition to making it easier to create user accounts and compile lists of goods and services.
The e-commerce web applications include a few security flaws that might compromise user accounts, lead to the installation of malware, cause a loss of trust and money, and even damage a brand’s image. Common web application threats include cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, cookie poisoning, remote command execution, and file-path traversal (Ezenwoye et al., 2020). For the security of online systems, the right cloud service and web host are crucial for e-commerce applications. Cloud service companies provide managed hosting of systems in addition to support with setup, security, and maintenance. To recognize and deny risky requests, implement monitoring and alerting by putting up a web application firewall. Application Level Getaways and Proxy Firewalls are two popular forms of firewalls that are useful for e-commerce systems (Saona et al., 2020).
E-commerce security may sometimes need penetration testing to uncover web application security flaws in the computer systems and network that an attacker may exploit.
Attacks using Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS)
These kinds of assaults are used to overload web servers and online systems with traffic from many compromised devices. All of the assaults come from different, often dispersed sources. Distributed DDoS manifests as spam emails, sluggish file access, and disrupted connection, among other things (Alshouiliy et al.,2021). To fix this problem, the company should go to the cloud, where there is more bandwidth, and put up a load balancer to speed up the network, server, and applications. It might also change its router and firewall to block DNS replies from the internet. In the event of an attack, the malicious network traffic is dispersed over numerous data centers.
Designing security for the e-commerce business
The security of credit card information while it is being kept and sent is ensured by the use of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. To secure your online resources, use Transport Layer Security, Secure Sockets Layer, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).
a two-factor authentication process. The user is required to input a one-time code sent through email, text message, or phone call or validate their login attempt on a second device when using MFA, which employs more than two modes of authentication. We want to encourage people to adopt stronger passwords in this manner.
Delivery
Employees of an online retailer offer products and services to clients and take cash payments when the order is delivered. The Delivery Staff’s mobile devices enable tracking of deliveries and cash-on-delivery payments. This is an extremely efficient distribution strategy since the recipient’s happiness is ensured. The e-commerce corporation automatically updates the delivery and payment confirmations.
References
Alshouiliy, K., & Agrawal, D. P. (2021). Confluence of 4g lte, 5g, fog, and cloud computing and understanding security issues. Fog/Edge Computing For Security, Privacy, and Applications, 3-32.
Ezenwoye, O., & Liu, Y. (2022). Web Application Weakness Ontology Based on Vulnerability Data. arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.08067.
Larsson, T., & Engberg, N. (2021). E-commerce and Information Security.
Pereira, L., Tovstolyak, Y., Costa, R. L. D., Dias, Á., & Gonçalves, R. (2023). Internationalisation business strategy via e-commerce. International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 17(2), 225-250.
Saona Hoffmann, P. R., Azad, M. A. K., & Naznin, A. (2020). Technologies for Cross-Border E-Commerce.
Sokiyna, M., & Aqel, M. (2020). The role of e-business applications software in driving operational excellence: Impact of departments collaboration using sustainable software. Sustainable Computing: Informatics and Systems, 28, 100445.
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