| January 2005 (Vol. 6, No. 1) 1541-4922/05/$26.00 © 2005 IEEE Published by the IEEE Computer Society Blending E-Commerce Theory and Application
Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E-Commerce By Alan R. Simon and Steven L. Shaffer 312 pages US$39.95 Morgan Kaufmann, 2001 ISBN 1-55860-713-7 In a modern economy, computer systems development determines to some extent the value added to the company's true profit and to a large extent the possibility of achieving business success. Since the time when recording and storing data in computer memory became possible, there have been constant efforts to exploit the analysis of this data. The most advanced data analysis techniques involve data warehousing (to store large amounts of varied data) and business intelligence technology (to mine useful information and discover knowledge from data). Both areas have acquired new meaning thanks to e-commerce's systematic progress and evolution, which depend on and give impetus to the development of data acquisition, storage, and analysis technologies. So, we need knowledge about the models, technologies, and so forth, that can be applied to e-commerce systems development. Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for E-Commerce attempts to meet this demand. The book's interdisciplinary character is an important advantage. It includes information about a range of e-commerce models—and the possibility of realizing them practically—and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. The book has two parts: one covering theory and the other covering practical application. Part 1 acquaints readers with foundations, presenting standard computer applications used in enterprises in the 1990s and the challenges of Internet development and e-commerce success. Because of the book's interdisciplinary character, the authors review the base terminology in an interesting and useful subchapter. This discussion introduces e-commerce models such as B2C (business to consumer), C2C (consumer to consumer), C2B (consumer to business), B2B (business to business), G2C (government to citizen), B2G (business to government), and B2E (business to employee). The authors describe each model with reference to appropriate data-warehousing and business intelligence methods (see the related sidebar for more information). They also specify the most recent technology for storing and analyzing data in different kinds of e-commerce so that readers can find a complete integration solution. Part 2 describes the core technologies supporting e-commerce systems: Internet protocols, database technology, ETL ( Extraction, Transformation, Loading), MOM ( Messaging- Oriented M iddleweave), intelligent agents, and so forth. The authors describe these technologies' use in real e-commerce systems and present three vendor approaches to off-the-shelf front-end products: Vignette, Ithena, and Revenio. These approaches represent three kinds of possible e-business developments that exploit business intelligence methods and data warehousing. Particularly interesting is the discussion of data quality, integrity, and system security for e-commerce environments. A case study of e-commerce system architecture closes the book. All the topics are broadly, completely, and competently presented from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. The book's excellent structure and clear presentation (reinforced by numerous figures) make it an interesting, useful read. Because of its cognitive and pragmatic value, I would recommend Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for e-Commerce to theoretical researchers as well as e-commerce system developers. Although the book was published in 2001, its issues are still topical, and the described solutions retain both their innovative character and practicality. Violetta Galant is a lecturer in the Faculty of Management and Computer Science, Wroclaw University of Economics. Please contact her at violetta.galant@ae.wroc.pl. E-commerce ModelsAlthough each of these e-commerce models concerns online transactions and exchange information, they differ with regard to the customer type.
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The most popular is B2C (business to consumer), which links a business with individual customers. This model has two variants: C2C (consumer to consumer), where e-commerce services link consumers with one another, and C2B (consumer to business), where consumers can name their price for various products or services.