Description:
E-commerce is definitely hot, but doing it well is anything but easy. In the spirit of making it easier to understand, E-Commerce Strategies serves two purposes: to frame the issues involved in planning and implementing an e-commerce solution, and to explain Microsoft's strategy in that arena. Targeted toward decision-makers in organizations, this title defines the terminology, spells out the benefits, and specifies the pitfalls of doing business online. It doesn't answer every question, but the book does give solid methods for fully evaluating company needs and formulating a battle plan. Strategies also addresses e-commerce myths and realities and gets readers thinking about how to measure the success and cost of an e-commerce plan. A chapter titled "E-Commerce Site Essentials" covers the internal and external features to consider implementing on a site--with a remarkable lack of screen shots of real-world implementations. Appendices list the Web sites and printed sources used in writing the book, which is somewhat helpful. Part of the book covers the Microsoft e-commerce platform, offering an overview of the various pieces of the Redmond giant's plan--from Site Server to Windows 2000, and MSN for content delivery. This section is pretty lightweight, and it has no visual examples of Microsoft-based Web sites, but the text does concisely summarize the Microsoft architecture. Moving into the fast-paced world of e-commerce can be intimidating. This book is good for getting managers and executives started in their online futures using Microsoft platforms. --Stephen W. Plain Topics covered: - Importance of e-commerce
- E-commerce risks and rewards
- Hardware and software components
- Essential site features
- Membership and profiling
- Brand management
- Microsoft e-commerce strategy
- Microsoft portals
- Partnering issues
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