How To Use Dynamo, TeamSite And SmartCode In E-Commerce Sites

The Opportunity

Each year, US firms are escalating their spending for e-commerce infrastructure, according to Forrester Research. IT budgets increased a whopping 72 percent over 1999 expenditures, among those technology executives interviewed. Perhaps the more dramatic finding for the Web software market is that many firms are deciding to buy or lease rather than build. This new strategy is the direct result of a growing recognition of two critical facts: Huge new, profitable markets are waiting on the Internet for those who can act quickly, and Web opportunities are moving too quickly for the traditional in-house software development cycle.

The Challenge

With the current proliferation of overlapping Web technologies, applications, tools and development environments, buyers must be cautious and informed. Today's software decisions must be building blocks for tomorrow's business model.

A typical enterprise has a complex array of business functions that must be Web-enabled. Applications must be robust and have a specific focus. A total solution, then, requires that today's choices seamlessly work in concert, and that the whole system be adaptive to changes due to market conditions, product improvements and new Web technologies. Systems must be able to integrate structured and non-structured data from many sources and deliver current information in the form needed by the user. Java programmers, template writers and content authors have to easily create and manage information and functionality. Finally, time to Web must be short.

The Solution

The answer to this challenge lies in what Forrester describes as "platform orchestration," a strategy involving integrated software products that provide a stable, scalable, cross-platform environment into which application-specific products can be plugged. Such an environment now is available.

Three companies--leaders in their own Web spaces--have product suites, which fit this strategy. Products from Art Technology Group, Information Architects and Interwoven seamlessly integrate to provide this foundation and give customers a platform for both today's business problems and tomorrow's future challenges.

Dynamo Suite Art Technology Group

ATG's Dynamo Suite begins with the Dynamo Application Server, which provides a stable, cross-platform environment that is highly responsive to Web user requests. Through failsafe and rollover capabilities, it insures the integrity of the system.

Driven by high-level business rules, the Dynamo Personalization Server sits on the Application Server, targeting business information to a single user or a group of users based on their particular needs. It tracks customer visits and analyzes customer interaction with the site. Specific rules gather key information needed to formulate a user profile. To further enhance a user's experience, related profiles can be grouped into communities.

The Dynamo Commerce Server, which runs on top of the Personalization Server, establishes a sales presence on the Internet through implementation of stores and boutiques. Support for product promotion, shopping carts, credit card purchases, order processing, billing and integration of third-party application systems are among Commerce Server's benefits.

TeamSite Interwoven

TeamSite is an easy-to-use, robust content-management solution that gives users universal access to content, whether in a file system or database. It is designed for integration with any Web application server or personalization engine, and supports content creation with the user's choice of HTML or XML authoring tools. Collaboration, staging and virtualization capabilities allow content developers to work individually or in teams from anywhere, improving their response to opportunities. Content creation, editing and approval are smooth, even for large, complex Web projects. Strong versioning protects content integrity and manages publication dates. To protect the criticality of Web content and business operations, TeamSite is extremely reliable, available and serviceable.

TeamSite Templating enforces standard presentations and separates content from format. Content developers are more productive when focused on content rather than presentation, and the organization can reduce time to Web with new or revised content by reusing existing components.

OpenDeploy is a TeamSite add-on module that minimizes costly errors by automating the manual, time-consuming process of content deployment to production servers. Cross-platform support, incremental deployment of only changed assets, encryption and deployment logging are all features that insure the security and integrity of your valuable Web assets.

DataDeploy automates deployment of database content to the production environment. Attribute data (metadata) and data content from TeamSite Templating can be transferred among TeamSite, an external SQL database or an XML file, available for further processing.

SmartCode Information Architects

The SmartCode Suite gives access to key e-business data from disparate sources and tailors the view of that data to the end user.

Framework Server, the foundation of the SmartCode Suite, supports rapid, customized development of any Web application. A primary strength is its ability to dynamically aggregate critical data content of different formats from disparate data containers, such as text files, legacy applications, PDF files, Word documents, Web pages, database structures, XML documents, LDAP files, Corba IIOP and EJB servers. Using metadata and powerful mapping, this information can be combined, transformed, viewed and updated from a standard Internet browser, a wireless device or servers in an XML-based session. The up-to-date, real data content can be dynamically obtained and presented to the end user at the point of request without the cost and delay inherent in creating and maintaining replicated databases.

SmartCode Converters, used individually or integrated into a complete solution, convert MS Word and PDF documents into XHTML format ready for Web display or inclusion in a larger Web presentation.

SmartCode Watcher is ideal for notifying users of changes or triggering the SmartCode Framework Server to take specific business actions based on detected changes to content location or content.

SmartCode Dynamic Syndication Server provides an easy-to-use system with distinct benefits for content publishers, partnering subscribers and customers who use the content. It rides on Framework Server, and manages partners and their preferences. Using the partner's presentation templates makes subscription content appear to be coming from the partner, though it originates directly from the provider's site where the content is always up-to-date. This eliminates costly software, which the partner must install, maintain and upgrade. It relieves partners from requesting, scheduling, receiving, storing and maintaining content. Repackaging data with the partner's logo, look and feel is unnecessary. Content no longer is rendered out-of-date while being prepared for delivery. Users get current information. Dynamic Syndication Server elegantly solves the problems of typical, static Internet syndication.

Promoting the partner's presence increases sales, and delivering current content improves user productivity and satisfaction. Providers can focus on keeping content current.

Benefits

Combining the capabilities of SmartCode, TeamSite and Dynamo provides a unique environment for creating stable, scalable, cross-platform, robust solutions that will grow with an organization, providing users with a dynamic environment for responding to whatever opportunities the Web future holds. Significant benefits can be realized by integrating these three best-of-breed suites:
* SmartCode's dynamic aggregation of disparate back-end data sources improves personalized presentations by assuring users the most current information, no matter the source. SmartCode's capabilities permit seamless integration with any store of information or legacy system--such as inventory, purchasing, customer, legal, personnel and financial--that adds value to the whole system.
* Using metadata and advanced data modeling capabilities, SmartCode dynamically can transform, combine, process and update information based on inputs received from the user, Dynamo's user profiling, partner preferences, internal business logic or Interwoven's content.
* Wireless support of e-business environments delivers critical information to users whenever and wherever.
* Working together, SmartCode and Dynamo seamlessly and responsively can deliver up-to-the-minute content from the provider's site, personalized to the user's needs and formatted to look and feel like the partner's site. Combining Dynamo's personalization of users with Dynamic Syndication Server's partner personalization serves the interests of user and partner alike.
* Dynamic, personalized syndication of real content without the delays, potential loss of accuracy and inherent cost of creating and maintaining replicated databases improves user response, reduces cost and delivers more current, useable information.
* SmartCode's Dynamic Syndication Server enhances the functionality of TeamSite by providing a robust syndication capability to augment the content management suite.
* Framework Server accesses real data only when requested, and then only those data elements needed to satisfy user requests, then transfers content to any interconnected file or database. Partnering Framework Server with Commerce Server lets a company update sales catalogs, client information or sales material from various sources of supplier information.
* Combining TeamSite with SmartCode and Dynamo allows collaboration in the process of content production and allows changes, additions and deletions with any desired Web authoring tool.
* Interwoven's products enable Dynamo and SmartCode content authors, as well as Java and template programmers, to maintain version control of all executable code, scripts and personalization assets, preview development changes, and safely deploy production versions.

Conclusion

Whether aggregating or syndicating Web content, delivering personalized information, operating an e-commerce site or managing content, products from Art Technology Group, Information Architects and Interwoven seamlessly integrate to overcome the Web challenges ahead and provide the stable, open environment needed to remain competitive on the Web.