Integrating the Shopping Cart with the Back End
Integration with back end systems can provide for a very fluid work flow... it can also create headaches and bottlenecks when the back office systems stem from legacy technology. By "Back End" we are of course referring to accounting systems, inventory management systems, supply side systems, shipping and receiving systems, distribution systems, and similar packages.
Integration with these systems, when done well, can help provide for efficiencies in the online business that are otherwise labor intensive, or at best, cumbersome. Downloading a data file and importing it into the back office system can create issues with data integrity, duplication, or loss.
The variety of back office systems is enormous, ranging from mainframe systems to PC based applications like Peach Tree or QuickBooks. XML has helped to facilitate integration, and there are many systems on the market that make extraordinary claims.
To integrate or not to integrate, that is the question...
What can be integrated? What should be integrated? (these two questions are not the same)... What about All In One systems? What of your legacy system that is not web enabled? Is it worthwhile to create software converters for incompatible formats? Once integrated, is your back office data safe from attack?
This area of the site contains articles, notes, and links to other resources that will help you answer these and other questions.
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AWM Resource Area Sponsors |
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Resource Links
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Cisco Systems: E-Commerce Technical Implementation Guide - from Cisco, a technical implementation guide for e-commerce systems (+info)
Connecting E-Commerce Systems with XML - (Power Point Presentation: You must have powerpoint installed to view this link) A presentation of Stephen Mohr, at Omicron Consulting (+info)
Critical Components for E-Commerce on the Web - A quick overview of how e-commerce works (+info)
Dr, Dobb's Reference - Software tools, guides, etc. (+info)
EVRSOFT: A developer resource - a fairly comprehensive collection of tools, articles, scripts, etc. (+info)
Fraud control - an article on Fraud Control for the e-commerce site... useful, important, and insightful (+info)
Global e-Commerce & Taxes - An online resource and introduction to international e-commerce and related tax issues. (+info)
Semantic Issues in E-Commerce Systems - (Adobe Acrobat PDF: Acrobat Reader is required to view this document) A study about the various communication requirements for inter application talking in e-commerce systems (+info)
Testing E-Commerce Systems: A Practical Guide - As e-customers (whether business or consumer), we are unlikely to have confidence in a Web site that suffers frequent downtime, hangs in the middle of a transaction, or has a poor sense of usability (+info)
Web Developers Virtual Library - A great collection of essays, tutorials, tools, resources and forums on web developments for developers. (+info)
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The Back End
