USeP on Electronic Security Matters

Undeniably, there are some instances that the systems are vulnerable to attacks as mentioned by my classmates on Sir RSG’s forum, this is due to lack or improper implementation of security measures... So for me, I guess a stronger policy on data and systems security must be imposed. Not only the network administrators, developers and programmers should be trained and aware of these security measures but also all the users involved. Maybe a data and systems security awareness lecture or discussion will be given to students, employees and other concerned individuals that will use the system. Let them know what are the dos and don’ts to protect the system. I thought of this since I have learned sometime last year that there’s this employee that let his son used the computer of the university to insert his USB. He had no knowledge that his son’s USB was carrying a computer virus that would halt all the processes he has in his computer and so to delay important transactions of the university that time, like the releasing of salaries to the university employees. So from that simple situation, we can say that aside from the said employee forgot to update the database of his antivirus (I am not even sure if the computer was installed by an antivirus software), he was also not mindful on who are the authorized persons to use the computer.

So maybe, everyone in the university should be aware on whatever security measures implemented by the university. Furthermore, in relation to electronic securities, if it still vulnerable to attacks, maybe the university should upgrade or acquire a better one that could ensure more protection and security to the system.

Internet Apps Integration in USeP

With existing applications and data, we can integrate internet applications with them from which it can make the processes and information involved more presentable, organized and accessible to the users (employees, professors, students etc.).

Internet applications such as emails, instant messaging, search engine, electronic documents, multimedia and other electronic transactions can be used to incorporate existing applications and data in USeP with them.

- E-Mails, Web Forums, E-Groups
These can be good alternatives to traditional classroom wherein lessons and discussions are documented well and are accessible to any people in the virtual world. Indeed, there is a good number of classes in the university that engage in this kind of learning.

- Instant Messaging
This is the most convenient and quickest way to send messages to anyone when online. In fact, it can aid in rapid dissemination of information. Instead of informing persons manually like personal meeting with them, instant messaging can be a good option.

- Electronic Documents
As we all know, converting bulky paper documents to electronic documents is such a good way to reduce effort and cost. Paperless documents are easier to organized and more accurate.

- Multimedia Applications
These can add to the proper presentation and organization of information and data or documents. Video, audio and images are good supplements for information delivery.

INTEGRATION OF INTERNET APPLICATIONS
When all of these internet applications are integrated, it can build up a really good system wherein one application is linked to another which contributes to the efficiency and productivity of the system as a whole. All processes and operations in the university will be hastened having these internet applications employed on them. The very good factor of this integration is that anyone can perceive and see the information flow of the system and they can participate well in any group discussions and or any activities wherein their inputs and involvement are greatly needed.

USeP on Intranet and Extranet

There are lots of benefits for using intranet and extranet in an organization. One good example is that it hastens the processes in an organisation. Different departments and units can make their operations more effectively and productively. Most importantly, it provides transparency for all people involved in the whole system like employees can perceive clearly how the information and the processes flow in the system.

And so, my personal views for USeP to use intranet and extranet are the following:

Intranet

1. The departments can effectively communicate with each other and the exchange of information and processes between them will be done in a more accurate and secured manner. As well as, it can save time in executing the processes and operations which eventually contribute to the productivity of the whole system.
2. The employees as well as, the students can play their roles and responsibilities quicker and more effectively since they can have quick and accurate access to the information and data provided to them in the website. An example is that if the students will be able to see lists of schedules or school activities like examinations and clearance signing etc., they will be informed beforehand. The employees can also efficiently do their tasks at a more accurate manner, they can as well as, participate in the group discussions that must be provided by a website that entails the university-related issues and discussions. Indeed, information and knowledge sharing can be much effective in intranet, which definitely lead to good teamwork as a whole when every entity in the whole system are cooperating and sharing resources with one another.

Extranet

1. Since our university has also a few campuses like USeP Mintal etc., extranet can be useful to integrate their respective operations and information to attain the same goals. Each university can share their information or processes through extranet which eventually help one another to execute their operations more effectively. Extranets like that in intranets though in a wider system, can help in the productivity of the university, as whole system connected with one another.
2. Students and employees from different campuses can efficiently share their knowledge through extranet which indeed, can be a good platform for information-sharing between different people.
3. Indeed, with extranet, it can build a stronger team when all systems from different campuses are integrated.

Is freeware free?

YES but NO to some extent…

There are amazing things we think of when we mention the word “FREE”. Free is always associated with no cost which we sometimes see as very helpful thing when we want to acquire what we wanted. Oftentimes, it is associated with limitless, means that you can use a particular thing as long as you wanted and do whatever you want over that thing. Now, when we bring these two words altogether, no cost at a limitless time is really beneficial for us acquiring for things we want and we significantly, need.

No cost and limitless use is actually applied in software. There are lots of software available in the internet or even distributed through CDs, and they are categorized accordingly: adware, shareware, free software (not to be confused with freeware since it commonly referred to as Open Source Software), Demoware, Freeware and other –ware out there. These are just some of the few ware categorizations of software available to the users. Now, freeware is substantially, unique from all of them since from the word itself, it immediately tells us that it is a software for free. Well, freeware as defined in wiseGEEK, “is a software offered free of charge”. Mostly, freewares are downloadable from the internet wherein you can really attest that the software packages are free of charge when you do not have to pay for it or use trial versions which is commonly called as Shareware. Most freewares do offer unlimited span of use and some offer you to acquire for another version which is definitely free too.

Freeware similar to open source, you get to realize the freedom to acquire software for free. Free, a very simple yet, catchy word is what we always wanted. Indeed, personally, I really wanted that all software I want and I need must be free of cost, but then, I sometimes do think that if I would be the programmer, that would not be fair in my part, maybe for me, it depends on the level of difficulty and purpose of your software on whether it should be with cost or without. Gladly, there are some brilliant programmers and developers who distribute their works for absolutely free which is really very kind for their part. Now, what is the difference between freeware and open source? Users can alter the source code of open source and definitely, they can be part for the developments of the software. While in freeware, only the software itself, not its source code is available to the users. This what makes the open source great since you can make sure of yourself that there would be new developments for the software every now and then since there are contributors for its developments.

On the other hand, freeware and shareware are quite similar since they both offer free of charge though the big difference of them is that shareware offers not the full version of the software with limited functionalities at a limited use of time which will eventually lead the users to buy for a licensed one, the full version. Freeware somehow is the opposite of it aside from they offer free cost.

Now, though freeware is absolutely free, it somehow has a user agreement or EULA (End User License Agreement) to add some restrictions to the program itself and to ensure that the software can not be altered, repackage, or sold. By the way, most freeware does have technical support in the internet or sometimes in the help menu of the said software. This could significantly add to the satisfaction of the users in using the software for free. Now, this freeware becomes “not free” if their technical support, manuals are paid first before they are acquired.

This is what my classmate Agnes has said in the last part of her answer to the question “Is freeware free?” Some business organizations have used several strategies to promote their business by distributing free software which later becomes sort of shareware when the user has to pay first before they can acquire what they need. But to clarify, these are not shareware. Freeware are not shareware and vice versa. It just that the company takes strategic actions that at the end, they can benefit from the freeware they had distributed. For example, if the freeware has further advancements or special features available but it must be connected or linked to another software which has a cost, that is when business comes in between the users and the distributors of freeware who use such business tricks.

Another situation we can relate to it is that when you have won a house for free but later you need to make some maintenance of the said house, this would likely be possible in freeware, some technical problems or errors the software might be encountered later can not always be solved by the technical support it offers. That is when you need to spend something to fix it… Absolutely, it is not free when you had to spend a single cent for it. I am referring to the maintenance of the software after you had acquired it. Some troubleshooting on the errors it might encounter could also ask you to spend a little for it, that is just one of the possibilities. I am just trying to say that maybe the word free associated to freeware is best understood on that moment when you acquire it at no cost. This will eventually change when freeware is paid little by little as time goes by since as we know, we can use it with limitless time, which means we would be maintaining the software for a longer span of time having all the possibilities of spending for it (though maybe, just little that it would almost be “free”…).

Indeed, in the real world we live in, there is nothing free. Everything has a cost in its particular kind of fee. We live freely but we had to spend some time and effort to live our lives the way it should be. And so this applies to the software, though freewares are free in terms of you do not have to pay in acquiring for it but later, you would realize that you had spent a cent for it.

References:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-freeware.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware
http://searchenterpriselinux.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid39_gci212159,00.html
http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/website/whatIsFreeware.cwd
http://www.computerscrapbooking.com/pages/fonts/shareware.htm

Appropriate web design defines a business success

Doing business online has been one of the defining factors to succeed in the market for entrepreneurs. Undeniably, internet is a very good venue to catch a wider scope of audience or customers providing a 24/7 limitless transactions. With this, several company owners have seen the importance of their websites to effectively attract the customers’ attention and get their full satisfaction out of the services being provided by them. A lot of websites have their distinct style, themes and designs to attract their customers, aiding them with the very convenient process during transactions. Other companies have been even considering spending enough budget for hiring a web designer to design their website, this is to ensure the quality and advantageous features for their website. Well, it is a fact that a good website reflects to the good services and products delivered by the company.

In traditional business, business owners make sure of the convenience and comfort of their customers through providing a very good and expedient shopping place to them like ensuring their stores are clean, well-organized and that their employees are customer-friendly. And so, in a website, these things are well-considered too by the business owners. Customer-friendliness for example, can be ensured by providing attractive and agreeable web styles and themes. Actually there are lots to be considered in building a very good website. These are the following:

1) Planning

It is important to plan for your website to build. Plan what are to be included in the website, its design, content, goal etc. The following can be considered in planning:

a) Website’s theme

It is necessary to decide what would be the subject of your website, if it is about automobiles, then the theme should match the said subject. Website’s theme includes the color, language, structure of the content that would suitably match the subject of your business.

b) Website’s purpose

The goal of the website must be considered so that, in designing the website, the business’ goals will guide what should be included in the website, like for example, if the website’s purpose is to sell the products then the website should detail the necessary information about the subject you are selling.

c) The Target Customer

This is important since there are different categories the customers fall into. For example, if the target customers are kids, then the website should be child-friendly, and it does not display adult matters that are prohibited for children. Another example is if the website’s target customers are male, then feminine colors, styles and themes should be avoided.

d) Choosing the business partners

It is important to choose you business associates in setting up a website. One of these associates is the person who will take care of your merchant account which is needed for the transaction that involves cash. Suppliers too are important to supply the business stocks for products.

2) Designing the web site

After the planning phase, designing comes into the scene. This is the vital part of setting up a website since this would be the interface that connects a business to the customer. When a customer gets a wrong impression on the page, it would automatically be a loss to a company and a gain to the nearest competitor. With this, I have researched several tips and important factors to be considered in designing the website, these are the following:

a) Privacy Policy

The customer does not know anything about the “in’s” and “out’s” of the operation he is being involved and so protecting his privacy is very important to consider this is to ensure that he can trust the website he is visiting. The more he realizes that he is being protected, the longer he would stay a regular customer he is. Importantly, the website that contains this policy should tell the customer what data has been collected and tracked by business owners from them. Additionally, he must also be informed that the information is shared with other and with whom and the customer has also the right to choose what to do or not, who will be shared with the information or not, or in other words, he can opt out. To let the customers be assured that your privacy policy is validated, a “seal of approval” must be displayed on the web site. This can be done through applying with an organization that validates privacy policies. Good examples of these organizations are TRUSTe, Better Business Bureau’s BBBOnLine Privacy or TrustSG.

b) Information Security

During the buying phase, the customer has to enter information about his identity such as name, age, place, etc. With this, the website should let the customers feel that sense of trust by informing them that the website contains sufficient information security to secure the data being collected from them and that, information leaks are not possible. This process should include creating a page that details the information security policies that has been imposed by the company. The policies should contain how the information is being collected while it being sent from the server, during transmission and after the information reached the recipient. Such details should be always available to the customers for assurance and to let them see a glimpse on how the information flows throughout the whole operation.

c) Features, Design and Styles

The very first thing that flashes to the eyes of the customer is how the website looks like. This is the most important to consider by the entrepreneurs in attracting the customers. But mostly, the common mistake committed by these business owners is having the website looks cluttered and shabby, lots of links, big images, disordered structure and so on and so forth. The following tips are the common dos and don’ts in website designing.

(1) Keep the website simple and direct to the point

Having lots and unnecessary contents to be included in the website are such big annoyance and distractions for customers. Simplicity is the key to attract customers, the contents should be direct to the point, and they must feel like they are little bit closer to buying the products with just few readings and clicks. Additionally, the image captions and explanations must be kept simple and brief.

(2) Easy Navigation

Navigations throughout the web page must be kept simple and convenient for users too. Links and images should be hassle-free, easy, clear and sufficient. Implicit processes and delaying barriers during the operation or transactions should be avoided. Most common mistakes of business owners are having inactive links or wrong redirections. Naming of links is also important to lead the customers where the links go. Another also is to set up a pattern to be noticed by the customers so he would know what’s next to do.

(3) Simple Language

Undeniably, the most common language being used in e-commerce is English, the universal language. But even if in speaking English, there are still differences in using this and so, it is important to use the regular and common language. Avoiding jargon words is one significant thing. One good example is that in United States, diapers is their usual term but in other English-speaking countries, they prefer to call it nappies. It must be remembered that misunderstandings in language used between business owners and customers should be avoided.

(4) Compatibilities

Some websites perfectly displayed in particular web browser, this is an important factor to contemplate. Some run in Firefox, some suit for Internet Explorer. Compatibilities in browsers and platforms are should be planned well. The web designer should consider the fact that the web site should run appropriately and flawless in any platforms or web browsers the customer is using.

(5) Images, Videos, Sounds

It is nice to have images to display to the customers so that they will have a glance on what the product looks like. Videos too are helpful to let customers know the step-by-step process he should do and sounds are interesting for customers to have previews on what the soundtrack sounds like. These are just some of the advantageous things in attracting customers more. But the very significant factor to think about before adding these things to the website is the loading time for each. The web designer should make sure that the images, videos and sounds are easy and fast downloading. Taking much time from this bores the customers. Most significantly, the home page should quickly load so the customers would not end up looking for another website instead.

(6) Innovations and Trends

It is considerable to go with the current trend in designing a website. For example, do not use frames if it is outdated or not necessary for websites these days. Like in fashion, dresses that do not go along with the current trend are not desirable and so this applies in websites. Eventually, a traditional look for website bores and turns off the customer.

(7) No Software

It is not sensible to ask the customers to install a software first before doing transactions with the business owners. This would take so much time and effort from customers which are not persuadable. They will just find another more convenient online shop than yours.

(8 ) Avoiding Common Web Designing Mistakes

The following are the common mistakes committed by a website designer in designing a web site for a business which eventually disgusts or bores the customers:

- Colorful Background
- No Spaces between Paragraphs
- Disordered Navigation Menu
- Inconsistent Page Design
- Wrong font Sizes
- Distracting Frames
- Misplaced Order Buttons

d) Products

Details about the product should be clear, brief and direct to the point. Extra and unnecessary information are quite annoying to the customers. Importantly, proper and accurate descriptions should be included in the product displayed. Images or videos about the product will be much helpful for the customers to take a glimpse and have an idea on how the product looks like or how it performs. Furthermore, do not display products if they are not really available or you are our out of stock for particular product. Lastly, measurements should be considered. This refers to the standard currency you are using. It is important to take into account that similar to language, there are differences in the measurements. US dollars are mostly being accepted in online shops. So with this, currency converters should be made available to the customers so that they could easily convert their current currency to whatever being accepted by the online shop.

e) Shipping and Billing

It is advisable and suitable to create a page that entails the whole shipping policy for the product. As a matter of fact, this policy should be read by the customers first before they order the product. This can be done by explaining in the page the shipping options and when it has to be delivered. Providing a complete and detailed shipping and delivery fees should be displayed and explained well.

On the other hand, it is important to let the customers know the billing descriptions like when the said payment will be deducted to your payment card. Every billing transactions should reflect to the billing statement of the customer to ensure that the customers will know what have been the reasons behind the necessary deductions.

f) Customer Service

Providing the customer a very convenient link or page to assist him on his problems, queries and questions about the services and product is very significant factor to consider. Indeed, a good customer service will keep regular customers for patronizing the products and services being offered. “Contact Us” links are desirable containing the whole contact information where a customer could contact you. This requires however, a very knowledgeable and enough staff to attend on these concerns to ensure that questions and queries are answered or satisfied right away. Maybe, to get more in touched with the customers is to provide them a toll-free telephone customer service agent to talk with to provide a more comfortable and customer-friendly approach.

To conclude, a website should be simple, clear, to the point and well, nice to look at. It must be secured, transparent, organized and trusted. The website’s purpose must be clear and should go align with the company’s goals. It should satisfy the needs of the customers as well as providing them the very convenient way to buy what they want. Finally, it should be remembered that the website represents the company’s worth and quality.


References:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Dos-and-Donts-of-Successful-Ecommerce-Website-Design&id=1767478
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/articles/ecommerce-site-s1p1.htm
http://www.quality-web-solutions.com/blog/e-commerce-website-design/
http://www.myownbusiness.org/business_newsletter/2005/spring/
http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/tips-for-building-an-ecommerce-website-516431.html
http://www.freemarketingzone.com/website-design/
http://ecommerce.suite101.com/article.cfm/tips_for_small_businesses
http://www.infocreek.com/webdesign/helpful-tips-for-ecommerce-and-website-design.html

"A cent less spent adds a cent to profits."

This is one of the guiding notions for an organisation to boost a business. Indeed, with the advent use of internet technologies, there is a significant cost reduction for every business transactions a company is involved. E-commerce has inevitably played a vital role in a company’s profits. Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) are the two common business models of E-Commerce which have guided an organisation to do their business processes electronically which certainly, two of the defining factors to succeed in the great competition both in local and international market. With the emergence of virtual market, every activity has converted digitally bringing good advantages with them.

Organisation’s edge to outdo its competitors is to make and go through new innovative strategies to correspond with the mainstream. Indeed, B2B transactions have been perceived as considerable factor to thrive well in E-Commerce. B2B makes an organisation possible to exchange information electronically. It has several advantages compared to that traditional B2B transaction. B2B involves several processes and costs that need to be simplified and cut off. These processes may undergo delays in traditional B2B that definitely reduces quality and good services. Wasting time is losing customers, which is equivalent to throwing away the profits the company may have absolutely gained when the procedures and stages the business transactions undergo has been conveniently handled and done. And so, cost is a major factor to be considered too. It is comprehensible that each processes or transaction may cost money which has been reduced by the innovative form of B2B transaction. This cost spent before in traditional way has been cut down with B2B e-commerce which significantly added to the profits may have not been gained before e-commerce has made into practice.

In relation with this, I have researched and come up with several functions the internet technologies have aided an organisation to gain better competitive advantage in the market. These are the following:

1. Location Flexibilities in Business Activities

Traditionally, large organisations or even the average businesses oftentimes acquire their products from other distant businesses which are termed as suppliers. Business entrepreneurs have to do inventory from time to time to check their stocks before they reach product scarcity. So before such event will occur, and since the distance of suppliers is a problem, they have to negotiate with them as early as they could before they run out of stocks that will lead to putting off the products that may have been requested or ordered by their customers. Now, another problem to be encountered is that the requisition of these orders as well as processing them, also require lengthy time before it reach the suppliers and in turn, the delivering of stocks from them. The very obvious problems of this are postponement of services, shortage of products, and customer’s dissatisfaction which will entirely ruin the business processes.

So, it has been a critical and difficult issue for business entrepreneurs to transact and negotiate with their suppliers from long distances. Now, this has been solved with the use of e-commerce from which such dilemma is unlikely. Internet has provided a wider horizon to connect the space between ends. Overcoming the distance has been made easier. Business owners can easily transact with their suppliers through a common medium with ease and convenience in negotiation. E-commerce has reduced the cost to create branches just to be near with suppliers since these electronic stores do not need to have several sites to reach suppliers and customers. Other business activities in traditional B2B having difficulties with distances have been done thoroughly with more convenience. Since location would not be a problem anymore for business entrepreneurs, this could help hasten the processes, widen the scope of customers and increase the profits.

2. Free Flow of Information

Before, the data and information in business transaction go through lengthy procedures before it connects two ends, the link between supplier and business owner. Data processing and the information flow follow through physical and conventional system wherein interruptions are quite unavoidable. Purchase orders are manually written, processes are physically done etc. This has significantly reduce the convenience and quick services delivery to the business establishment which in turn, follows a deferred cycle making it longer to provide the customers the product they desire.

B2B e-commerce has somewhat eradicated such tight spots. Similar to Government to Employee (G2E) e-commerce, the flow of information in B2B e-commerce with the aid of internet technologies, has been processed without restraints and is delivered with transparency. Indeed, the reliability and security of information flowing in the systems are ensured. Information from one end to other is delivered quicker, more accurate, even cheaper compared to the paper-based system and more organized compared to the traditional way. Information entailing the business transactions is one of the best assets and most important matters a company should look into since it is bringing a concrete basis to every decision to be made and key to every process to be done. Indeed, information is a powerful tool of an organisation.

3. Continuous Connection

E-commerce has provided businesses, 24/7 nonstop transactions making it more money-making for entrepreneurs. This certainly means that since there is a continuous transaction, the link between business owners and customers, workers and suppliers never ends too. There is a constant link between them. And so, with this, hastening the processes is done better as well as, productivity increases bringing more profits to the organisation.

So seeing these obvious distinctions, we realize that unlike the traditional, continuous transactions can never be done. Business owners still close their establishment at the end of the day losing the customers they might have served while the business is closed. Additionally, they can not enjoy a wider audience and suppliers compared to that in virtual businesss wherein they can reach any customers and any suppliers with absolute and speed.

4. Enhanced Services and Improve Productivity

Internet technologies have significantly brought lots of leads in B2B transactions. Certainly, some of these are more enhanced services and increased productivity. Why is this so, it is because the conventional system has been replaced with more convenient procedures from requisition up to the delivery of the products. Increased productivity is the outcome of the flawless and quicker cycle a business process has gone through.

With suppliers more than a reach of hand, several and different services can be acquired and delivered to the customers. With continuous flow of information as well as, constant connection, it is undeniable that more services could be made and done with the suppliers which in turn, provide the business entrepreneurs with more stocks and products attracting more customers. Thus, means more profits.

5. Data Processing Simplicity

Requisition of products undergo paper-based transactions, after then, purchasing orders are recorded manually, follows after are the step-by-step conventional procedures from which would likely produce delays and postponements and could entirely reduce the efficiency of the whole business process.

So with internet technologies, bulks of paper and complicated data processing has been slowly eradicated. Data is processed directly between two entities openly, manual operations from requisition, purchase orders to payment etc. Traditionally, the setup is less convenient and quick compared to electronic transaction.

6. Long-Term Relationship with Suppliers

Traditionally, business owners have their “suki” or regular suppliers when it comes to business, but this requires a lot of effort and trust-building in the relationship they make with suppliers. Maintaining it (specifically for distant suppliers) is to spend and put effort to negotiate with them physically considering the distant.

Now, with internet technologies, one does not need to spend lots of effort to connect the spaces between such distances between supplier and business owners. They can instantly negotiate, discuss and process business transactions digitally. With this continuous connection with suppliers, trust between the business owners and them could be easily developed. Delays are unlikely, postponed transactions are eliminated, thus, promotes to a healthy and professional relationship between them and the fact lies, that with this constant virtual interaction, definitely, it would last long.

7. Simplifying Procurement Processes

E-procurement is the most common subject in B2B e-commerce. Procurement processes has been done electronically providing lots of advantages. E-procurement processes include receiving of delivery data announcement, supplier's requisition request, transport ordering, retrieval and bidding. These are the common procedures between business owners and suppliers.

Common advantages of using internet technologies in e-procurement are:

a) Easy Purchasing
b) Eliminating Paperwork
c) Automating Approval Process
d) Cost Saving
e) Better Inventory Level
f) Better Information Flow between Buyers and Supplier

Seeing through these advantages brought by internet technologies in B2B e-commerce transactions, we could certainly see the ease and expediency it brings to a business. The most significant distinctions seen through all of these are to cut off the time between stages and procedures as well as, to save a large cost a company is spending in traditional B2B. Indeed, a company’s competitiveness is best perceived on how they control the cost within organisation. And so, a cost that is lessened brought of the use of internet technologies, returns good profits to an organisation.

References:

http://sec.oise.utoronto.ca/english/pdfs/workshops/RyanPoster.pdf
http://www.srlst.com/ijist/ijist-Vol2N2/ijist22-3-10.pdf
http://www.seedco.org/documents/publications/evolving_role_of_IT.pdf
http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/2888/1/paper+63.pdf
http://biblioteket.ehl.lu.se/olle/papers/0003126.pdf
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/profprog/emtm/insite-fall2008/feature-subprimecrisis2.html
http://epubl.ltu.se/1653-0187/2007/048/LTU-PB-EX-07048-SE.pdf
http://www.gxs.com/b2b-ecommerce.htm
http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/280/soctechchange/soctech16.htm
http://ecommerce.hostip.info/pages/137/Business-Business-B2B-E-Commerce-B2B-E-COMMERCE-IN-EARLY-ADOPTER-STAGE.html
http://www.globalbusinessinsights.com/content/rbtc0047m.pdf
http://www.websoftwareoutsourcing.com/b2bdevelopment.shtml

E-arning TRUST

The most significant distinction between shopping online and the traditional shopping experience is that the customers are actually seeing how the process of buying is done from the point they choose the product to the payment period wherein the assurance that there is a less or no fraud is guaranteed. And this is why trust is a very critical factor in online transactions since not every procedure is transparent to the customer. Real human interaction demonstrates real trust with customers compared to that virtual interaction. This is since a shopper can personally see the product, inspect its features, and he can even try it before he decides to buy it, while in online, the customer depends on the information being displayed with the product or testimonials from past buyers of that product which we sometimes doubt if they were real, and we may think that they are just make-up stories. The most critical part of online shopping too is disclosing our personal information like our real full name and full address which is needed in shipping of our orders which unlike to traditional shopping wherein these details are not likely needed since you bring with you already the product after you pay for it. With all of these, trust is indeed, an important aspect in building a great relationship between merchants and customers.

Trust when illustrated in normal situations like that trust found in friendships, is developed in many ways. Definitely, trust is earned through great foundations of relationship. One cannot disclose the significant information about himself if the receiver of that is not trusted enough. Other way in which trust is built is actually can be made through instant connections. Connections that involve great assurance with people and he was easily persuaded to trust it easily. This is the most common event happening online, instant trust. How? An example is a person who trusts immediately a site on the first time he visited it. This was maybe because the site’s content has included good information of their company that ensures the customers’ privacy when it comes to their personal information. Or maybe their site has been mostly endorsed by other people who have already tried their services. This is another factor to be considered to build a good e-commerce, earn great reputation from your customers and you will earn trust from them and to the future customers in return. And so, a better informational presentation of their company and the products they sell is important to win the trust of their customers. Also, it matters with how they endorse themselves and who are the ones endorsing them. Good and respectable endorsers could essentially help them to earn wide and more trusting customers. Trust, is too some extent, based from the customers’ ruling and judgmental decisions upon examining your business. Thus, in the sellers’ side, they must invest more on how information to be reliable enough for the customers be convinced.

Since trust is a very important factor in a successful e-business, and so there must be some various ways to gain such trust. Several authors of different books or the company owners themselves have studied and researched for effective methods on how to persuade their customers to trust them. And as I was personally researching in different search engines about how to build trust between customers and sellers, there are lots of ways I have found. These methods could be applied by any sellers in e-commerce that will essentially help them earn that trust factor from their customers. The following methods are illustrated by epages.com, authored by Anja Römisch entitled Trust in E-Commerce: Customer Service.

1. Show a face

Well, in fact, having been able to see the one you are talking with in real situations, you can assure yourself that whenever fraud is going to happen, you remember his or her face well anyway. So, in doing a business, it is important for the customers that they are negotiating with real ones. They would be convinced about how reliable and trustworthy your company is if they know that the company has nothing to hide. Showing their faces on “About Us” page or a short video film about the owners, the employees and if possible, the actual processes in the company will very much helpful to gain trust from the users. Well, at least fairness in the part of the customers is realized, they disclose their information and in return, they know what the merchants and the persons behind the company look like. In any case, a face is needed to complete and satisfy the customers’ thoughts whenever he thinks of the company and the product especially that he cannot see them in person.

2. Short Response Times

Customers are used to traditional shopping wherein if they have inquiries with the products they are answered right away by the sellers since they are in the same events. So, with this, the same situation should be present online, if the customers have inquiries, suggestions, reactions or something they want to discuss with the online sellers or company owners, they must respond immediately. Long responses will definitely bore the customers and probably, lose them instantly. The online business entrepreneurs must take note that customers hate to wait especially that the very reason why they do certain things online is to hasten the traditional activities they are engaged before. Online activities are likely expected quicker than the traditional ones. Everyone in the digital world seems to be in hurry that they only want few clicks and page navigations and everything is already acquired. So merely, short response times in answering the customers’ concerns will essentially guarantee the said company’s good rewards from the customers whether they will enjoy buying your products or better, they will absolutely admire and patronize the services being offered. This will certainly help build good relationships with the customers.

3. Personal Support

The objectified way of helping the customers with their concerns could not help build good interaction with them. Answers are ready-made or synched that these answers seem answered by computers rather than real persons. The company should ensure more personalized way to support and answer the customers’ concerns. They should let the customers feel that sense of reality that the customer service persons they are talking with are real persons they are encountering in the real world. It means that to reach the customer’s mind and heart, they have to be more real persons negotiating with their concerns. Maybe a more friendly approach will aid these customer service representatives. The company should make sure that the default answers recorded in the machines will not answer the concerns but rather, they should assign real persons to each customer having concerns. Importantly, these persons who will take care of these customer’s concerns should be really serious and accurate with their answers to obtain full customer’s satisfactory feeling after their personal matters being answered.

4. Fast Delivery and Accommodating Return Policies

One way to succeed in e-commerce is that sellers should maintain their customers. In other words, they should keep up their customers so that they will shop again and again with the company. Or to some extent, they will make you build a wide audience when they endorse the site with his family, friends and relatives. So one way to attain these is to merely have a fast delivery after the purchase on the site is done. Customers again, hate waiting. A long time for them to receive the product will definitely annoy them and worst, will regret shopping in the said site. Fast delivery should be ensured and also, the company should inform at the time they purchase them how long it would take them to receive the product so that they will have the chance to know earlier how long they would wait for the products to arrive so that they will not be disappointed. Another too, the company should make sure that they have prepared return policies so that customer by the time they receive their purchased products, they have a chance to return it if it was not the product they had expected before it has arrived. This is so important since as I have mentioned earlier, by the time they were still in the process of inspecting the product, they cannot personally try or see them, thus, they are mostly dependent to the information displayed with the product or if available, some testimonials made by past customers which are not mostly reliable. So with this, the customers should have the rights to return the product whenever they receive it and they do not like it. Or if the company does not have any policies regarding it, the company should let them know ahead of time that they cannot assure money-back guarantee or they do not accept returning of products.

5. Keeping Customers Informed.

Letting the customers informed with the company’s new products is a very good initiative to persuade them to shop in your site. Informing them through the site about the products is not enough. The company owners should keep them updated through e-mails so that they will be sent product information updates and they can avail and purchase any of it. This is so helpful when the company is promoting promos, discounts and sale with their products. This is a very effective way to attract them to shop and shop again with the said site. However, the company should also let the customers decide if they want to receive updates or not because they could somehow be annoyed with these information updates. They should freely decide for their own and let them choose if they want to shop, visit the site or not. At the end, the customers’ freedom is still the most important thing in respecting the customers’ choice. You can anyway display information on the site not only through emails.

Those are just some of the effective ways in building trust between a customer and a seller. It is very obvious that the customer’s choice and convenience are two important factors to consider in building trust and great relationship between customer and seller. And also, a company should establish a set of rules and policies so that the customer should feel security every time they are having an electronic transaction on online shopping. In addition, full customer service support is very helpful too to ensure that customer’s concerns are answered immediately and accurately. Letting the customer to be informed always is necessary too to attract more customers.

On the other hand, I have also realized that transparency too should be considered as an important factor in building trust with the customers. Indeed, when all transactions and processes are allowed to be perceived and understood by the customers, they can assure themselves that they are having real and reliable transactions with the sellers. However, the company should also make necessary security measures to avoid dishonest customers. In e-commerce, these customers do not have to be always right or the common term “Customers are always right” principle should not be applied at all times since there are also wise and cyber criminal customers that cheat into the system. The security measures should be enforced strictly to avoid fraud throughout the whole process. There are certain things that should be included in the security measures like ensuring that the customers’ personal information are genuine and valid. Identity thefts and false identities are emergent in the internet nowadays, the same as, illegal merchants and e-businesses are also surfacing. Protection is certainly, a very important issue to be dealt with by each seller and buyer in e-commerce.

Finally, trust should not just always be acquired from the customers only but also the customers should also gain trust from the sellers. There are frauds from both of them, there are illegal sellers and businesses online, as well as, there are dishonest customers. Therefore, earning trust is a two-way developing process: buyer should be truthful with their information disclosed (but with cautions) so that the seller could trust their credibility, on top, the sellers should make sure that they had set up secured policies, good and quality products, and consistency of customer services enough to receive trustworthiness from their consumers.

References:
http://www.epages.com/en/blog/index.php/2008/05/27/trust-in-e-commerce-customer-servic/
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3408571
http://www.ecommerce-blog.org/archives/some-simple-ways-to-build-trust/
http://www.philosophe.com/commerce/trust.html
http://www.fipr.org/trust.html
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/informationSystems/iSChannel/iSChannel2006/Sehgal_2006.pdf
http://www.casos.cs.cmu.edu/events/conferences/2005/2005_proceedings/Tang.pdf

Cyber Law

Commerce is one of the significant things in this world that we certainly owe from the very first people who built its existence and its purpose. It has been a great part of our lives. Perhaps, without it, there would be slow pace and developments in each of us since I believe that the basic principle of commerce is to produce and to consume. There would be no new products if there would not be any materialistic motivation to create these. And I am somewhat referring to the exchange in every product being sold. Consumption is another way around, it would not exist if there would no productions. The point is commerce has certainly made his big part between these two factors. Commerce or trade (a term used during ancient times or commonly called, barter) is one of the factors that motivate a man to produce and produce. One has nothing to sell if he has nothing to receive in return, and that is when commerce takes into the scene.

We may not always consider but we do a lot of things everyday that pertains to commerce. A simple trade is already a form of commerce. Significantly, it takes on every simple situation we may involve like two movie passes to buy your friend’s time. Commerce takes place on everything that entertains the idea of “exchange”. Long time ago, everyone engages into this kind of trade, bartering. Goods are sold to buy goods or vice-versa. Until later on, the term money and its creation was coined and built up. And everyone has to earn such to buy what he needs and what he wants. Even according to some, money revolves the world since they believe that no one can live without money.

With money’s existence, several forms of commerce have eventually and slowly existed. Various trades and exchanges were invented. Indeed, it was on this period that the growth of business has widen that its scopes could be seen from the selling of clothing to food to transportation to everything a person’s obliged to take hold of and go through. And everything has an attached value on it, until traditional commerce was formed to provide better area for everyone engaging in trading.

Traditional commerce involves two significant actors. They are the Buyer and the Seller. The buyer identifies his needs and searches for the products that would definitely satisfy these needs. The seller will in another way, identify the possible needs of his consumer and produce products that could eventually satisfy those needs. Once these needs are satisfied, payments deals are taken into the account, and that is when commerce is being applied.

In point of fact, this kind of practice, the traditional commerce has been developed to build a newly and more interactive exchange where anyone from any point in the world can perform trades without face-to-face interaction. Traditional commerce has effectively given way to electronic commerce or e-commerce.

The creation of the World Wide Web and dot com’s extensive popularity have eventually led commerce into a new innovative form wherein it provides a better access and a wide-range of producers and consumers around the globe. In fact, doing business online is considered by every company now as another way to boost their business and gain more profits. Undeniably, it is because online business provides 24/7 customer service and an unlimited access to the audience where “Sorry we’re CLOSE” signs were certainly obliterated.

The very common practice of e-commerce is the online shopping, from books offered in Amazon.com to food orders to movie reservations to buying of plane tickets, everything can be sold and bought in the cyberspace. And there is nothing equivalent of it in the offline world.

But, the drawback is, with the practicality and convenience offered by e-commerce, there are some people who use e-commerce to ruin and invade the private lives of people. That is why there are definitely, various laws have been imposed to prevent these incidents. These laws are created to protect the rights of people when it comes to e-commerce.

These laws are made to provide legislative backbone for the emergent use of e-commerce. The Model Law on Electronic Commerce was created by United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, this law provides a guide for comprehending and understanding the basic components an e-commerce law should be composed of. These are functional equivalence between traditional paper documents and its electronic form; media and technology neutrality, bias towards technology should be avoided; autonomy, it refers to the agreement between two parties on how the electronic transactions be made between them; legal signature that pertains to the authorization between two parties to approve whatever is being made between them; writing, it is the availability of documents whether it is electronically created; original, means that it must be with integrity; and lastly, record retention, this is how records are kept and stored electronically.

There are several e-commerce laws created worldwide, and locally, we have our own Philippines’ E-Commerce Law or otherwise known as Republic Act 8792, the E-Commerce Law. Every Filipinos that do electronic transactions are covered by this law. With this law there are several guidelines made like the recognition of any electronic types of documents, transactions and contracts made electronically, bank transactions, the level of e-commerce security, and transportation of electronic documents.

However, even if there is an e-commerce law existed, there is a fear that this law doesn’t cover everything necessary to protect the people engaged in e-commerce. Law breakers are not really punished for some reasons like there is a lack of evidence to push him into his offense; another is that simply, the law is not imposed properly and fully. Eventually, the lack of policies also in every company that uses e-commerce have not been commonly practiced that their employees’ awareness on the law is very minimal or to some extent, none at all. They do not even know that such law ever existed due to lack of campaign endorsing to and informing the people about the existence and purpose of the law.

Information security is a very significant and major matter to be considered when doing transactions in the internet. We all know that a lapse in the security of your information is a big disaster. It is your best asset against your rivalry and they can use it as their best weapon against you if once leaked. A very common crime present in the cyberspace presently is the identity theft. You may not aware but you have been disclosing your personal information to anyone in the cyberspace who has been tracking your identity and maybe later on, as you were enjoying your life in the offline world, your identity has been actively participating with deals and transactions in the internet involving lots of money and interests. And you will end up someday bankrupted.

The very unfortunate about being victimized with these identity thefts is that you can not easily trace up them. In fact they tend to play anyone’s roles or in other words, they become anonymous and getting some hints and evidences that lead towards to these people are very tough ones. The worst is when these people are the very witty and wise persons who could have several techniques to use different IP addresses and employ several programming skills to hide their exact locations and identities. Cybercrimes are the ever-tough puzzles to solve. They could give a very hard battle with the authorities who are tracking them down.

The very unfortunate fact of this incident is that there is no accurate regulation that control cybercrimes and that could assure you that you are protected against these cyber criminals. Knowing that these criminals are hard to capture how much more if there is no precise law that was properly imposed to eradicate these people. One can not be sure if he is protected enough against malicious offense against them. Like what happened in the Sulit.com hacking incident last month wherein the said site was hacked. The suspected hacker made the site looked like its domain has expired. The site’s founder has defended that their domain is registered until 2010. With this, it can be said even major companies are not seriously implementing strict information security. It is because there is no precise law for it. Information security is one of the important issues a company should take into account first. Undeniably, information is the company’s valuable asset. Once it is leaked and modified, it can ruin the entire company’s reputation. This is why the strictness of security certainly reflects to the ones who impose them.

The “I love you” virus who has been rumored to be originated in the Philippines has brought our congress to create a law that would certainly help avoid such incident be happened again. In fact, Philippines is the fourth country who made a law about e-commerce that has certainly put Philippines in the e-commerce field and be known among the countries who have already engaged well in electronic transactions. E-commerce law’s existence has eventually strengthened the foundation for electronic transactions.

And that is why we should be thankful that we have an existing e-commerce law. However, a law remains a law if it will not be carried out into actions. And so later on, Securities and Exchange Commission or SEC has been appointed by the current administration last month to lead the implementation of the said law. However, the Philippine Internet Commerce Society led by Ann Tolentino was partly disappointed with the said appointment that supposedly be given to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Well, Ms. Tolentino was hopeful anyway that the said lead agency will implement the law correctly. But still doubts were not totally eliminated.

So how can be a law strongly imposed if the governing bodies imposing them are being doubted to do their tasks. Unity among these policy implementers is the most significant factor to arrive at their main goals and one of these is to eradicate cybercrimes. We will be good followers if the ones that lead us are effectively justified of their tasks and responsibilities as efficient implementers. E-commerce law like any other law’s existence is best realized when it is properly implemented.

Looking back to the old days where commerce has solely started with simple bartering system and now here comes the most innovative form of trade, the e-commerce, we must see and realize that somehow, not like before, a more complicated system requires better concern. A more proper structure in implementation of actions is necessary and this must be followed and known by every person engaged in e-commerce. We all know that a more unified and coherent actions are all needed to help eradicate and possibly, end all the cybercrimes existing in the internet.

We must also take note that cybercrimes like technology, they are continuously growing and expanding, a new cybercrime comes across for every new evil act discovered. So, definitely even if we have a law controlling cybercrimes, it could not be enough since the existing law right now does not still cover possible offenses maybe committed by an offender someday, even now, information security was not still being concerned by the law at all. The very probable dilemma that would take place someday is the uncontrollable expansion and growth rate of crimes in the cyberspace if it would not be taken care of immediately. A stronger regulation and well-strategic and calculated approach must be imposed and planned to avoid such risks ahead of time. And so, a well-built law must be implemented and afterwards, a more careful and suitable execution must be done. Finally, let us not always depend ourselves and all these plans to the policymakers and implementers, let us play our own rules as part of the community who is engaging in e-commerce, the law and the authorized people behind this are not enough to eliminate crimes and offenses, each of us has something to contribute to make a law a working force against evil. At the end, we are not the ones who will depend on the law, it is the other way around.

References:
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/internet/0,39044908,62047922,00.htm
http://blog.defconph.org/?p=155
http://www.arellanolaw.net/publish/itlj-issue1_07.html