Book Brief: The E-Commerce Book

If you need a good overview of the business and technical issues involved in e-commerce, The E-Commerce Book is a good place to begin. Though the book jacket touts it as "the first complete book on deploying an e-commerce solution for small, medium, and large businesses," that's an overstatement. Small businesses of a dozen or less employees are hardly in the picture here. Nor is this book -- or any e-commerce book -- "complete." The subject is too vast for that.

However, as a quick, incisive overview of e-commerce, this book does a fine job. The authors begin with an introductory chapter that examines the various e-commerce business models and how they impact on traditional models. Next, they examine sales and marketing techniques to attract and keep customers, and tips on doing business in a global market. A chapter of company profiles offers a glimpse on how 18 companies both large and small are taking advantage of an e-commerce capability.

From a technical standpoint the authors review the architecture of e-commerce models and how they fit into a corporate network. They describe various storefront features, and then evaluate five different e-commerce packages: Microsoft, IBM, BroadVision, OpenMarket, and Intershop (nearly all for medium to large businesses). Next they describe how various payment systems work, and how to keep transactions and data secure. A chapter on auction technology describes how auctions are now being used by companies as part of their e-commerce mix.

The final two chapters provide tips on getting started and an introduction to the Consortium of Electronic Commerce (CEC) that provides both training and technical consulting services in E-Commerce.

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