Technological building blocks underlying e commerce.
You may find it strange that in a course dealing with eBusiness, we have so far largely skimmed over the technical
components of eBusiness implementation. This is because although technology is the foundationx of eBusiness,
technology is not the prime concern of the architect.
eBusiness is all about business using technology as the
enabler, or
facilitator, of the process.
A component-based or "modular" business design allows high-level functions to advance along with the information systems that support them, and to adjust to evolving business conditions.
An eBusiness with a well-designed technological infrastructure (one that is highly modular) can adapt with ease
to absorb new directions in business.
This is because in a modular design, the organization and presentation of information is affected more so than the underlying processes.
For this reason, the prime technological concern of the architect of an eBusiness solution is that the technical architecture must be robust and comprehensive. In other words, technology is the foundation upon which the eBusiness will be built, and the technology must be strong enough to support it. It is up to the architect to remain strategically focused, without getting too involved in the tactical level of technology. If the strategy is in place, and the plan is well designed and scalable, the details will follow and accommodate change--without affecting strategy.
