TheIBMAdvantageforImplemen5ngtheCSCCCloudCustomerReferenceArchitecturefore-Commerce

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INTRODUCTION 3

BUSINESSDRIVERS 3

REQUIREMENTS 4

NON-FUNCTIONALREQUIREMENTS 4

CLOUDCUSTOMERREFERENCEARCHITECTUREFORE-COMMERCE 6

COMPONENTS 8PUBLICNETWORKCOMPONENTS 8e-CommerceUser 8Channel 9

IBMcapabili:esforEdgeServices 10CLOUDPROVIDERCOMPONENTS 10e-Commerceapplica3ons 10

IBMcapabili:esfore-commerceapplica:ons 11DigitalExperience 11

IBMcapabili:esforDigitalExperience 12Gateway 13

IBMcapabili:esforGateway 13IBMcapabili:esforcustomercare 14

Payment 14IBMcapabili:esforpayment 15

DistributedOrderManagement 16IBMcapabili:esforDistributedOrderManagement 16

SupplyChainandLogis3csManagement 17WarehouseManagement 18

IBMcapabili:esforWarehouseManagement 19Merchandising 19

IBMcapabili:esforMerchandising 20CommerceAnaly3cs 20

IBMcapabili:esforCommerceAnaly:cs20Marke3ng21

IBMcapabili:esforMarke:ng21DataServices 22

IBMcapabili:esforDataServices 22BusinessPerformance 22Transforma3onandConnec3vity 23

ENTERPRISENETWORKCOMPONENTS 24InternalChannel 24EnterpriseApplica3on 24IBMoffersarangeofspecificapplica3onswithcapabili3essuitedtoenterpriserequirements,HR,andcontractmanagement.IBMdoesnothavespecificfinanceapplica3ons,buthasintegra3oncapabili3eswithallthemajorfinancesolu3ons,includingEnterpriseResourcePlanningproducts. 25EnterpriseData 25EnterpriseUserDirectory 26Security 26

THECOMPLETEPICTURE 28 Page � 2

Introduction

ThisdocumentisintendedforITdecisionmakersandtechnologistswhowanttocreate,enhance,orreducemaintenancecostsofacomprehensivee-commercesystemusingcloudcompu:ng.Theinforma:oninthedocumentwillhelpyouperformcomparison/gapanalysisbetweenexis:ngandideale-commercesolu:ons,aswellasiden:fysolu:oncomponentsthatcouldbenefitfrommigra:ontothecloud.

IBMhasbeenaleaderinprovidinge-commercesolu:onsformorethanadecade.TopretailersintheworlduseIBMcommercesolu:onstodriverevenuethroughtheirdigitalchannels.Whetheritisprovidingtheretailexperiencetocustomersortobusinesspartners,IBM’sstrengthspansboththeB2CandtheB2Bspace.

Atypicalvaluechainmodelincludesconceptualiza:onofanideaforaserviceoraproduct,doingamarketanalysisfortheidea,supplychainmanagementforsourcingpartsorresourcestocreateorsourceaproduct,B2Bcommerceforprocuringthepartsandproducts,productdevelopment,marke:ngoftheproduct,B2BorB2Ccommerceforthesalesoftheproduct,customerexperiencewhileplacingtheorder,orderfulfillment,andcustomerservice.

Thefounda:onalcomponents,capabili:es,andinterac:onsnecessarytoenablethecommercevaluechainarereflectedintheopenstandardCloudStandardCustomerCouncilCommerceReferenceArchitecture[1].Thescenariosandflowspublishedwiththereferencearchitecturedescribethetypicalcapabili:esandcomponentsimplementedbysuccessfulorganiza:ons.

Inthispaper,wedescribehowtheIBMporaolioofproducts,solu:ons,andservicessupportsthisindustrystandardforcommerce,marke:ng,supplychain,andcustomerservice.TheIBMinstan:a:ondescribedinthispaper,oftheCSCCcommercearchitecture,isenabledforbothmobileandwebchannels.Inaddi:on,leadingedgeIBMCogni:veservicescanbeusedformerchandising,marke:ngaswellassupplychainmanagement.

Aholis:cunderstandingofthee-commercearchitectureisbasedonanunderstandingofthearchitecturesforthemobile,webapplica:onhos:ng,bigdataandanaly:cs,andIoTcapabili:es.Anapprecia:onofserviceproviderSLAsisalsohelpful.PleaserefertotheCloudCustomerReferenceArchitectureIBMadvantagepapersforWebApplica:onHos:ngandMobile,BigDataandAnaly:csandIoT[2][3][4]forathoroughdiscussionandbestprac:cesoneachspecifictopic.

Businessdrivers

Increasingspeedandagilitytoexecutebusinessdirec:on,innova:on,newbusinessmodelsandreducedbarriertomarketentryareallkeybusinessdriversforimplemen:ngane-commercesolu:ononcloud.Inaddi:on,thesebusinessdriversencouragedeploymentofe-commercecapabili:esusingcloudcompu:ng:

IBMPRODUCTSUPPORTFORE-COMMERCESOLUTIONSINTHECLOUD29

SCENARIO1.DIGITALTRANSFORMATIONOFRETAILER’SCOMMERCEENABLEDBYCLOUD 30

SCENARIO2.INCREASINGCUSTOMERENGAGEMENTTHROUGHPERSONALIZATION. 31

SCENARIO3.DIGITALTRANSFORMATIONOFRETAILER’SB2BCOMMERCEENABLEDBYCLOUD 33

DEPLOYMENTCONSIDERATIONS 36SUMMARYOFKEYCONSIDERATIONS 37

CONCLUSION 37

REFERENCES 38

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• Customerengagement:Personaliza:onofproductofferingsandsitecontentwithremindersanddigitalmessagingleadstoamoreengagingcustomerexperience.

• Omni-channeldelivery:Salesexperienceonline,instoreorviamobiledevice,isadaptedtothechannelands:lldeliversconsistentfunc:onalityanduserexperience.

• Adapttochangesinmarket:Integra:onofsocialanaly:csintotheplanningprocessformerchandisingsupportsa:melyresponsetocustomerdemand.

• Costreduc5on:Byplacingsolu:onsinthecloudwithguaranteedup:meSLAs,thecompanyreducestherisksofbusinessinterrup:onsandrevenueloss.Reduceinvestmentinon-premisesinfrastructuretomeetseasonalpeaks.

• Consistentperformance:Cloudservicesandinfrastructureofferelas:cityandresiliencethatassuresconsistentuserexperience.

Business-to-business(B2B)specificdrivers

• Business-to-businessengagement:B2Bengagementthroughcontractsande-commerceaddresstheneedtocreateuniquebusiness-specificcommerceengagementexperiences.

• Agilitytochange:Complexbusinessprocessesdrivenbythemarketandrapidlyadap:ngtonewcondi:onsrequiretheagilityprovidedbytheSoiwareasaService(SaaS)offeringsandthecloud.

• Newopportuni5estomone5ze:e-commerceinthecloudcreatesnewwaystomone:zeinforma:onanddataassetsthroughestablishmentofpeercloudsormicroservices.

• Be`ercommunica5on:Protocolandstandardsrequirementsenablebusinessestocommunicatewithpartnersanddobusiness.

Requirements

Enablinge-commercecapabili:esthroughthecloudcanmaketheavailabilityofthebusinessfunc:onalityfromtheenterpriseecosystemfasterandeasier.Thefollowingrequirementareoienusedtodefinecommonscenariosintheenablementofbusinesscapabili:esoncloud:

• Usersopt-intoreceivepersonalizedcontentandno:fica:onsonavailabilityandproductlaunches• Dynamiccatalogbasedonuserpurchasehistoryandshoppingpalerns• Integra:onofsystemstodeliveraconsistentcustomerexperienceacrossallchannels• Socialmediaanalysisandpurchasedataintegratedwithcogni:vesystemstodelivermerchandisingand

marke:ngadvice• Crea:ngandmanagingpersonaliza:onrulesfortarge:ngproducts,content,andmarke:ngoffers• Measuringtheimpactofpersonaliza:ononcustomerbrowsingbehaviorandconversionrates

B2B-specificrequirementsinclude:

• Crea:ngandmanagingcustomer-specificcontractsforcommerce• Integra:onwithenterprisefinancialsandbusinesspartnerecosystems• Belermanagementofinventoriesandproduc:onschedules• Broadvisibilityintomarketbehaviorsandexternalfactorslikeweatherthatdrivedemandorcreatelogis:cs

issues

Non-functionalrequirements

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Non-func:onalandopera:onalrequirementsthatareespeciallyimportantforcloudande-commerceenvironmentsincludesecurity,privacy,scalability,highavailability,extensibility,resiliency,backup,anddisasterrecovery.Table1summarizesthekeycategoriesformostnon-func:onalrequirements.

Table1.Keycategoriesfornon-func5onalrequirements

Non-func:onalrequirements Typicalconsidera:ons

Performance • Speed,latency,throughputofrequestsanddatatransferstoandfromthecloudprovider

• Matchingofdataloca:onandstructuretoworkloadrequirements

• Elas:cscalingtorampupordownasyourloadchanges;onlypayingforwhatyouuse

Security • Usermanagement,access,authen:ca:on,andauthoriza:on,aswellasintegra:onwithsecuritysystemswithinenterprisenetwork

• Integrityofdataandservicesofferedbythecloudprovider• Dataauthoriza:onunderthecontrolofthedataownerand

drivenbyrulesandmetadata• Auditabilityofallac:onsperformedbyusersandcloud

administrators• Auditdataavailableforanaly:cs• Respec:ngcustomerprivacyandsecuringthecustomer’s

accesstotheenterpriseecosystem• Abilitytokeepthesystempatchedandup-to-datearound

securityvulnerabili:es

Opera:onalandenvironmental • Releasecycles(considertheexpectedfrequencyandimpactoffuturereleasesoftheproduct)ofthecloudprovidercapabili:es

• Resiliencyanddisasterrecoveryofferedbythecloudprovider• Integra:onpointswithenterprisesystemssincedatamust

freelyflowbothintoandoutoftheanaly:cssolu:on;theanaly:cssolu:onmustpreservetherightsandaccessneedsofthedataowner

Maintainability • Adaptabilityandongoingdevelopment(considerlikelyfuturechanges)

• Well-definedoutagewindowsenablingenterprisestotakeac:onandminimizeimpact

Userexperience • Capabilitytocustomizeappearanceandbrandingofofferedcapabili:es

• Interna:onaliza:onandotherforeignmarketconsidera:ons

Legal/Compliance • Compliancewithregula:ons,industrystandards• Cer:fica:onfromthirdpar:es• Useoflicensedcomponentsanddatasets

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CloudCustomerReferenceArchitecturefore-Commerce

Thee-commerceandcloudarchitectureguidanceinthisar:clehelpsarchitectsunderstandprovenarchitecturepalernsthathavebeendeployedinnumeroussuccessfulenterprisesbyIBM.LearnhowtoimplementthearchitecturesandscenariosusingIBMproductsandbusinesspartners.

Figure1showstheelementsthatmaybeneededforcrea:nganye-commercesolu:onacrossthreedomains:publicnetworks,providerclouds,andenterprisenetworks.

Resilienceandcapacitymanagement

• Reliability,availability,andfault-toleranceoftheunderlyinginfrastructureandcapabili:esofferedbythecloudprovider

• Capacity(forexample,volumesofdatatobeheldornumbersofconcurrentusers)onoffer

Scalability • Theabilityofthesystemtoadaptbasedonincreasingordecreasingdemands.

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�Figure1:Elementsofane-commercesolu5on

• Thepublicnetworkdomaincontainscommerceusersandtheire-commercechannelforinterac:onwiththeenterprise.Thepublicnetworkalsoincludescommunica:onwithpeerclouds.Theedgeserviceshandletrafficbetweenthepubicnetworkandthecloud.

• Theprovidercloudcanhostcomprehensivee-commercecapabili:es—suchasmerchandising,loca:onawareness,B2B2Ccommerceapplica:ons,paymentprocessing,customercare,distributedordermanagement,supplychainmanagementandwarehousemanagement.Marke:ngtakesadvantageofcommerceanaly:cswhichhelpswithdigital,crosschannel,social,andsen:mentanaly:cs.Usingdatacloudservicessuchasweatheranaly:csservicescouldhelpinadjus:ngthemerchandiseinventoryandop:mizingtransporta:onintheprovidercloud.Dataservicescanbeusedtogenerateandaggregateinsightreportsfromtheotherdatacloudservices,enterprisedata,andapplica:onsviabusinessperformancecomponentsinprovidercloud.Theseinsightsareusedbyusersandenterpriseapplica:onsandcanalsobeusedtotriggerac:onstobeperformedinthee-Commerceenvironment.Allofthisneedstobedoneinasecureandgovernedenvironment.

• Theenterprisenetworkdomaincontainsexis:ngenterprisesystemsincludingenterpriseapplica:ons,enterprisedatastores,andtheenterpriseuserdirectory.Resultsaredeliveredtousersandapplica:onsusingtransforma:onandconnec:vitycomponentsthatprovidesecuremessagingandtransla:onstoandfromsystemsofengagement,enterprisedata,andenterpriseapplica:ons.

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Figure2showstherela:onshipsforsuppor:nge-commerceusingcloudcompu:ng.

� Figure2:Cloudcomponentrela5onshipsfore-commercesolu5ons

Components

PublicnetworkcomponentsThepublicnetworkcontainselementsthatexistontheInternet:datasourcesandAPIs,users,andtheedgeservicesneededtoaccesstheprovidercloudsorenterprisenetworks.

e-CommerceUserAne-commerceuserisacustomerwhousesvariouschannelstoaccessthecommercesolu:onsonthecloudproviderplaaormorenterprisenetwork.

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ChannelChannelretailsolu:onsaimtoprovideaseamless,personalizedbrandexperiencewhetherthecustomershopsontheweb,overthephone,usingamobiledevice,oralloftheabove.Notonlycanyoucreateanext-genera:onwebchannel,youcanusethewebtoimproverevenuesandcustomerserviceinallchannels.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• Website:Capabili:esnecessaryforadirect-to-consumeronlinestore.Webstorefrontsenhancetheshopping

experiencewithrichcapabili:es—fromadvancedfacetedsearchandminishoppingcarts,tointegratedinventoryavailabilityandproductcomparisons.Forreference,seetheCloudCustomerWebApplica:onHos:ngReferenceArchitecturepaper[2].Itisabestprac:cetoensurethatthewebsitecommunicatestothebusinessservicesthroughwell-definedAPIs,thatis,thepresenta:on:erisseparatedfromthebusinessservices:er.

• Mobile:Supportscommercestorefrontsthattakefulladvantageofmobiledevicebrowsers,touchscreens,andloca:on-basedinforma:ontodeliveranop:mizedandhighlypersonalizedmobileshoppingexperience.SeeIBMAdvantagesuppor:ngtheMobileReferenceArchitecture[PDF]forhowIBMsupportsthisarchitectureindetail.WebSphereCommerceusesloca:on-basedservicestotargetcustomersusingGlobalPosi:oningSystem(GPS)-enabledmobiledevices.

• ConnectedDevices:Providestheabilitytohaveconnecteddevicesplaceordersfordepletedproducts.Thiscapabilityhelpsretailersdriveanalternatechannelofsaleswhereconnecteddevicesaremakingbuyingdecisionswhenneeded.IBMprovidesthiscapabilitythroughtheuseofRFIDchips(orIoTdevice)thatrelaytheinventorystatustotheIBM’sInventoryManagementSystem.Thisop:onprovidesconveniencetothecustomerandlow-touchsalestotheretailer.

EdgeServicesTheseEdgeServicesaredis:nctnetworkcomponentsthatareapartoftheoveralle-commerceecosystem.EdgeServicesallowdatatoflowsafelyfromtheinternetintotheprovidercloudandintotheenterprise.Edgeservicesalsosupportenduserapplica:ons.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• DomainNameSystem(DNS)server:ResolvestheURLforapar:cularwebresourcetotheTCP-IPaddressofthesystemorservicethatcandeliverthatresource.

• ContentDeliveryNetworks(CDN):Supportsenduserapplica:onsbyprovidinggeographicallydistributedsystemsofserversdeployedtominimizetheresponse:meforservingresourcestogeographicallydistributedusers,ensuringthatcontentishighlyavailableandprovidedtouserswithminimumlatency.Whichserversareengagedwilldependonserverproximitytotheuser,andwherethecontentisstoredorcached.

• Firewall:Controlscommunica:onaccesstoorfromasystem.Firewallspermitonlytrafficthatmeetsasetofpoliciesandblockanytrafficthatdoesnotmeetthepolicies.Youcanimplementfirewallsasseparatededicatedhardwareorasacomponentinothernetworkinghardwaresuchasaloadbalancerorrouterorasintegralsoiwaretoanopera:ngsystem.

• LoadBalancers:Providesdistribu:onofnetworkorapplica:ontrafficacrossmanyresources(suchascomputers,processors,storage,ornetworklinks)tomaximizethroughput,minimizeresponse:me,increasecapacity,andincreasethereliabilityofapplica:ons.Loadbalancerscanbalanceloadslocallyandglobally.Loadbalancersshouldbehighlyavailablewithoutasinglepointoffailure.Loadbalancersaresome:mesintegratedaspartoftheprovidercloudanaly:calsystemcomponentslikestreamprocessing,dataintegra:on,andrepositories.

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IBMcapabilitiesforEdgeServicesIBMBluemixsupportsservicesforDNS,firewalls,loadbalancing,andCDN.Addi:onally,IBMSecurityNetworkProtec:on(IBMXGS)isanext-genera:onintrusionpreven:onsystem(IPS)thatcanbeusedtomonitornetworktrafficandprovideprotec:onfromhiddensecurityvulnerabili:es.Finally,IBMDataPower®providesloadbalancingandSSLtermina:on.Ithelpsquicklysecure,integrate,control,andop:mizeaccesstoarangeofworkloadsthroughasingle,extensible,DMZ-readygateway.

Cloudprovidercomponents

e-Commerceapplica5onsWiththeadventofsocialandmobileplaaormsandtechnologies,suppliersandretailershavestartedtocollaborateinnewwaysandprovidecapabili:estotheendcustomerthatwerenotpossiblejustafewyearsago.Havingaretailerpar:cipateasadeliverychannelforasupplierhasnotonlyprovidedconveniencetocustomersbyallowingdirectorderingfromamanufacturer,ithasextendedthesuppliersabilitytotapintonewmarketsandchannels.Fortheretailer,inaddi:ontoprovidingconvenience,ithasallowedthemtoreachnewcustomersandpromotetheirbrand.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• MobileDigitalandStore:Enablestheconvergenceofphysicalanddigitalstorestoprovidenewwaystoreachandsa:sfycustomerrequirementsforshopping,delivery,andpersonaliza:on.

• ProductSearchandPersonaliza5on:Enablescustomerstofindproductsmoreeffec:vely.Mul:channelsearchsolu:onsalsosupportkeywordsearch,type-ahead,andsearchsugges:ons.Italsoextendsthescopeofsearchablecontentforbusinessusersforbothstructuredandunstructuredcontent.Thesearchisbasedaroundthesearchindex,andthesearchindexmustbebuiltbeforeitcanbeusedforanysearches.Siteadministratorsandbusinessuserscanusesearchtofine-tunesearchmerchandisingtodisplaypreferredproductstoshoppers.Onceasetofqualifiedproductsarefound,furtherproductselec:onandthedisplayororderofproductscanbepersonalizedbasedoncustomerandproductalributes.Personaliza:ondecisionrulesandscorescanbeappliedusingreal-:meanaly:calengines.

• Catalog:Providesaconsistentviewofitemsofferedbyaretailerandallowsacustomertosearchorplaceanorderusingamobiledevice,ApporotherIoTconnectedchannel.Thecatalogofferedtocustomerscanbecontrolledbysalesofferings,contractsormanyaddi:onalrulesofen:tlementincludingcustomerbehaviorandtransac:onalinsights.ThecatalogofferingisdrivenbymerchantsandincasesforB2Bsites,isaddi:onallydrivenbyindividualcontractswithpar:cipa:ngexternalB2Ben::es.Catalogcanincludethecapabilitytoprovidecorrectpricesfortheproductandservicesofferinginthecatalog.

Thepricingandpromo:onsfunc:onsincludecalcula:onsbasedonproduct,quan::es,combina:onsorcontentsoftheshoppingcartand,inB2Bsites,contracts.InaB2Bcommercescenario,itisverycommontohavepricingandpromo:onsbeingdrivenoffacontractwiththeexternalB2Ben:typar:cipa:ngincommerce.Catalog,Pricingandpromo:onscanalsobeconsideredacommonenterpriseservicesthatenablecatalog,priceandpromo:oncalcula:onsacrossallpar:cipa:ngcommercechannelswithintheenterprise.Incaseswherecommonservicesarenotfeasible,federa:onofcatalog,pricingandpromo:ondatafrommerchandizingapplica:onsorenterprisesystemstoindividualsystemscanbeused.

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• OrderCapture:Enablesthecrea:onofshoppingcarts,wishlistsforfuturepurchases,shippinginforma:on,paymentinforma:on,andtheconversionofshoppingcarttoanorder.Ordercapturealsoallowsordersstartedonmobiledevicestobecompletedinaphysicalstoreoronawebapplica:on.Italsoprovidesthecapabili:esofbulkorderplacementsfromamarketplace.Thiscapabilityintegratesandupdatesthecapturedorderinforma:onintothecustomersexis:ngdistributedordermanagementprocessesandcomponents.Italsoprovidesorderinforma:onforcustomer’sorderinquiries.Throughintegra:onswithcustomercare,ordercaptureprovidesupdatesonthestatusoftheordertocustomersusingtheirpreferences.Italsoprovidesthecustomerservicerepforassistedordercaptureandplacements.

• Marketplace:Allowscustomerstoshopacrossmul:plesellers.Themarketplacesareanalogoustophysicalmalls,whichprovidecustomersmul:pleshoppingexperiencesinoneconvenientloca:on.Theonlinemarketplacestypicallyowncustomerdataandcontroltheshoppingexperienceacrossthesellerswithinthemarketplace.Themarketplacedrivesthemarke:ng,catalog,productplacements,cartmanagement,checkoutservices,paymenthandling,orderbrokeringandorchestra:on,andaier-salescustomerservices.Thecustomersplacetheorderwiththemarketplace,andthemarketplacebrokerstheorderstoindividualsellersoftheproduct.Orderscanincludeproductsfrommul:plesellers.Inmanycases,marketplacescanalsoprovidefulfillmentservicesthatcreateaconsistentfulfillmentexperiencefortheendcustomer.

IBMcapabilitiesfore-commerceapplicationsIBMDigitalCommerce(SaaSoffering)productporaolioprovidesapowerfulcustomerinterac:onplaaormforcross-channelcommerceon-premisesoronthecloud.IBMDigitalCommerceisasingle,unifiede-commerceplaaormthatofferstheabilitytodobusinessdirectlywithconsumers(B2C),directlywithbusinesses(B2B),andindirectlythroughchannelpartners(forexample,B2B2C).IBMDigitalCommerceoffersconsistentviewsofitemsintheformofafeature-richcatalog,productsearch,andpersonaliza:on,ordercapture,memberandorgsubsystem,accesscontrol,pricingandpromo:on,andconvergenceofphysicalanddigitalstores.IBMDigitalCommerceisacustomizable,scalable,andhighavailabilitysolu:onthatallowsbrandstoengageshoppersinpersonalized,consistentwaysviamerchandisingtools,precisionmarke:ng,sitesearch,customerexperiencemanagement,catalogandcontentmanagement,andsocialcommercecapabili:es.TheDigitalCommerceplaaormalsoincludese-commerce,promo:ons,inventoryvisibility,andordermanagementandintegrateswithpayments,taxes,e-mailmarke:ng,andanaly:cssystemsdesignedtotransformtheglobalgo-to-marketstrategiesforB2C,B2B,andB2B2Ccompanies.Itprovidesaccelerated:metomarketandminimizesupfrontinvestmentbyprovidingrichsetsofbusinesstools,prebuiltresponsivestoretemplatesforwebandmobile,andout-of-the-boxintegra:onsforkeye-commerceneeds.

IBMMasterDataManagementonCloudprovidestheextensibility,scalability,andeconomicsofclouddeploymentmodelstothemasterdatamanagementsystemforcatalogandcustomerdata.MasterDataManagementsystemisacri:calcomponentofanye-commercesystembecauseitoffersacentral,unified,consistentviewoftheproductcatalogacrossaretailer’sbusinesslandscapewithmechanismstomanageandgovernthecatalogdatathroughitslifecycleofcrea:on,verifica:on,maintenance,enrichment,archival,anddele:on.Itincludesaccurateprobabilis:cmatchingandsearchcapabili:es,comprehensivepre-builtdatamodels,andmechanismstoapplypoliciesandprocessestocoordinatemul:stepandmul:roleworkflowforcatalogdatagovernance.

DigitalExperienceArich,meaningfuldigitalexperienceisthekeytoengagingcustomersintoday’sintegrateddigitalworld.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

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• Content:Enablesrelevantpersonalizedcontenttohelpalractandeducatevisitorsonthebenefitsofthebrand.Contentrelatedcapabili:esincludecontentauthoringtools,contentmanagementsystems,contentsearchandpersonaliza:ontools(mayrequireintegra:onwithmarke:ngoranaly:caldecisionengines),contentservers/portals.

• FederatedSearch:Federatedsearchenablescustomerandbusinessuserstofindinforma:onabouttheproducts,catalog,productreviewsandrecommenda:ons,marke:ngcontent,how-to,knowledgerepository,andcustomerandinternalblogsinaconsistentinterfaceacrossmul:pledomainapplica:ons.Thesearchcanbeusedacrosscustomer-facingapplica:onswithincommercealongwithinternalapplica:onslikecustomercare,ordermanagement,merchandizing,andsupplychain.Searchisnowbecomingcogni:veandcapableofansweringcustomerqueriesinnaturallanguage.Technologyadvancesinsearchnowallowcustomerandbusinessuserstointeractwithsystemsthroughnaturalconversa:ons.Searchisalsobecomingakeyplaaormtoenablepersonaliza:onofcontentforendusersbasedoncontextuallearningoftheuserspastandcurrentinterac:onswiththeenterprise.

• SocialEngagement:Enablesprovidingreviewsandranking,forengagingthecompanyandothercustomersinmeaningfuldialogsstrengthenstherela:onshipbetweencustomersandthebrand,turnscustomersintobrandadvocates.

• DigitalMessaging:Improvesthecrea:on,delivery,storageandretrievalofoutboundcommunica:ons,includingthoseformarke:ng,newproductintroduc:ons,renewalno:fica:ons,claimscorrespondenceanddocumenta:on,andbillandpaymentno:fica:ons.Theseinterac:onscanhappenthroughawidespreadrangeofmediaandoutput,includingdocuments,email,ShortMessageService–SMSmobilepush(includingreal:me)andWebpages.

o Emailservice:Keepcustomersinformedofnewproducts,clearancesandspecialopportuni:esthatarebeingofferedatthestore.Dynamicemailallowstheretailertocustomizeemailimpressionswithtailoredprogramsforeachindividualcustomer.

o No5fica5on:No:fica:onshelpkeepthecustomerintouchbyallowingno:fica:onsofstoreac:vi:estoemailorcellphone.

IBMcapabilitiesforDigitalExperienceThefollowingSaaSofferingscomplementIBM’se-commercesolu:onsbyenhancingcontentmanagement,search,integra:ons,mobiledevices,anddigitalmarke:ng.

IBMDigitalExperienceonCloudprovidesascalablefull-featurecontentmanagementsystemformul:siteandmul:devicee-commercesolu:ons.Itprovidesintui:vetoolingforlineofbusinessusersandwelldefinedintegra:onpalernswithvarioussystemsofrecordandapplica:onsinane-commercesolu:onsuchasWebSphereCommerce.Itenablescrea:on,management,andomni-channeldeliveryofpersonalizedexperienceconsideringrole,profile,deviceseungs,andmore.

IBMDigitalCommerce-offeringincludesWebSphereCommerceSearchbuiltontheopenarchitectureofApacheSolrtoprovidecatalogbrowseandnaviga:oncapabili:essuchaskeywordtextsearch,auto-sugges:ons,spellchecks,facetednaviga:on,sor:ng,andpagina:on.IBMDigitalCommercealsoincludeslineofbusiness,userfriendlybusinesstoolingtocontrolproductresultslis:ngthroughsearchrulesandcachingmodelsthatalignwithWebSphereCommerceservices,aswellasmul:pleindexcorestosupportproduct,category,andinventorysearches.

IBMUniversalBehaviorExchange(UBX)isanopenexchangethatenablessharingofcustomerdataacrosscer:fiedsolu:ons.Itworksviaapublish/subscribepalernthatautomatespersonaliza:onandtriggerscampaignsacrosspaid,earned,andownedchannels,increasingconversionsandreturnsoninvestment.UBXispoweredbyanopenecosystemofsocial,mobile,CRM,andpaidadver:sementprovidersalongwithIBMMarke:ngCloud(formerlySilverpopEngage)andIBMDigitalAnaly:cs(formerlyCoremetrics).

IBMWatsonMarke:ngincludesIBMMarke:ngSoiwareandIBMMarke:ngCloudtoenablethedesignanddeliveryofcustomerexperiencesacrossemail,SMS,mobilepushmessaging,andsocialandwebchannelswithpurpose-built

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analy:csandpersonaliza:oncapabili:es.YoucanuseIBMMarke:ngCloudTransactfortransac:onalemails.IBMMarke:ngCloudenablesretailersto:

• Developbudgetsandplanmarke:ngcampaigns• Designcustomers’mul:channeljourneys• Executestand-alonedigitalmarke:ngtac:csandautomatetriggeredcommunica:onstreams• Useembeddedanaly:cstobelerunderstandcustomersandprospectspreferencesandbehaviors,tomeasure

theeffec:venessofmarke:ngac:vi:esandtomakebelerdecisions

Formarke:ngusers,IBMMarke:ngcloudprovidesguidedmessagecrea:oninterface,templatecrea:onandmanagement,segmentcrea:on,drag-and-droptarge:ng,andperformanceanaly:cstoenablecampaignmanagement,messagecrea:on,andmeasurementandanaly:cstodeliverrichandac:onableno:fica:onstousers.IBMMarke:ngCloudintegrateswithanumberofpopularCRMandleadmanagementsystems.IBMMarke:ngCloudpar:cipatesintheUBXnetworkasbothapublisherandaconsumerofcustomerbehaviorevents.

GatewayAllowssmartdevicestocommunicatewithin-storenetworkstosearchorshopandpay.Thiscanhavethesamecapabili:esandrequirementsforsecurityandscalablemessagingasamobilegatewayorIoTtransforma:onandconnec:vitygatewayasreferredinIoTarchitecture[5].

IBMcapabilitiesforGatewayIBMStrongLoop®APIgatewayalsoprovidesmobilegatewayfunc:onality.IBMWatsonIoTPlaaormprovidesIoTtransforma:onandconnec:vitygateway.

CustomerCareSupportscustomercareacrosstheen:retransac:onlifecycleandallcommercechannelswherecustomercarepersonnelcanseethebehaviorsofacustomerinmorethanonechannel.Whethercustomercareisen:relyself-serviceorprovidedbycustomerservicepersonnel,deliveringpersonalizedcarerequiresaccesstoarangeofdatatypicallyresidingonmul:plesystems,includingdatafromwarehouse,logis:cs,websitesandPoS.Onlinecustomercareisfrequentlyofferedinreal:me,basedonuserbehaviorssuchasabandoningashoppingcartorclickingbackandforthbetweenpagesmul:ple:mes.

Stridesincogni:vecompu:ngandnaturallanguageprocessinghaveenhancedcustomercarefunc:ons.Customercarecannowbeprovidedany:me,anywherebyusingcogni:vecustomercareapplica:onsthatprovidenaturallanguageinterac:onsfromthemobileorwebapplica:on.Understandingthecustomer,thehistoryofinterac:ons,transac:ons,andcurrentcontextcanallbeusedtoofferapersonalizedcustomercareexperience.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• CustomerRela5onshipManagement(CRM):Providesbroadanddeepvisibilityintoaconsumer’scurrentandhistoricbehavior.Thisisaccomplishedthroughthecollec:onandaggrega:onofinforma:onfromtoolsandsourcesthatmakeuptheCommerceAnaly:csdomain.

• LoyaltyManagement:Allowsthee-commerceprovidertobuildandtrackcustomerloyaltyacrossthecustomer’sinterac:ons.Thesesystemsenablevariouskindsofloyaltyprograms:edtoacustomer’sprofile,andloyaltyistrackedeitherdirectlyorthroughtransac:onalfeedbackfromordere-commerceapplica:ons.Inaddi:ontocrea:ngandmanagingloyaltyprogramsandtracking,thesesystemsmanagevariouskindsofrewardprograms.Loyaltyprogramsplaykeyroleindefiningtheinterac:onsbetweenthecustomerandthee-commerceprovider,helpbuildbrandawarenessandalsocontributetocustomerreten:on.

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IBMcapabilitiesforcustomercareIBMCommercesuiteofproductsintegrateswithacer:fiedlistofthird-partyloyaltyandCRMsolu:onstoprovidecompleteCRMandloyaltymanagementcapabili:es.IBM’sBluewolfservicesgroupprovidesexper:seforintegra:onwithSalesforce.com.Combiningthecapabili:esofIBMMasterDataManagementonCloud,IBMMarke:ngCloudandCommerceAnaly:csalongwithcer:fiedthirdpartycustomerrela:onshipmanagementandpaidadver:sementsystemsintegratedoverIBMUniversalBehaviorExchange(UBX)enablesretailerstoacquire,farm,andcentrallymaintaincustomerdemographics,transac:onalandbehavioralinforma:onacrossallchannels.

Payment

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• PaymentProcessing:supportspaymenttransac:onsusingcreditcardsorelectronicfund

transferswhichincludesatleasttheseroles:o Merchanto Customero Merchantpaymentprocessingserviceprovidero Merchantbankifdifferentthanpaymentprocessoro Customer’sbankorbankissuingcreditorpurchasecard

Paymentprocessingcanbeafor-feeservice,wheremerchantsarechargedpertransac:onprocessed,typicallyapercentageoftheindividualpurchase.Thecostoftheserviceisoffsetbythebenefitsofafastersellementprocess.Themerchanthasmorecashonhand.Customersbenefitfromthesecurityandconveniencecomparedtomailingchecksortheaddi:onalcostofmoneyorders.

Thecomplexityofthetransac:onprocessandthestringentdatasecurityrequirementsandregula:onsoienmakeitmorecostefficientandlessriskyforcompaniestooutsourcethisfunc:ontoapaymentprocessorwhoisanexpertintherelevantstandardsandfrauddetec:on.Thepaymentprocessorisresponsibleforauthen:ca:ngthevalidityoftheeCheck,credit,debitorgiicardwiththecardissuer,sendingtheconfirma:ontothemerchant’sbankandul:matelycarryingouttheelectronicfundstransfer(EFT)fromthecustomertothemerchantbank.ThepaymentprocessorcoversonlypartoftheoverallSecurityandFraudDetec:ondomain.

IntheU.S.,paymentprocessorsini:atetheEFTthroughtheUSFederalReserveBank’sAutomatedClearingHouse(ACH).Thereisnosinglecounterparttothissysteminotherpartsoftheworld.Theglobalstandardforhowcompaniesprocess,store,andtransmitcreditordebitcardinforma:onisknownasPCIDSS–PaymentCardIndustryDataSecurityStandard.Thisstandardcoverspaymentprocessors,pointofsales,andtheinterchangesystemsoperatedbythecardbrands.

Tokeniza:onandend-to-endcardencryp:onareessen:altoprotectcardholderdataandtoensurethee-commerceprovidersadheretothePCIstandards.End-to-endcardencryp:ononthecardscandeviceisusedatPOSandstores,ascustomerscanphysicallypresent/scantheircardsthere.Tokeniza:on(internalorexternal)isusedonwebandmobilechannelswherephysicalcardscansarenotpossible.ThepaymentprocessoroienprovidescreditcardmachinesorotherequipmentforprocessingcardsatthePOS.

Thereisalsoanincreasingadop:onofnewerformsofelectronicpaymentslikedigitalwalletslikeApplePay,AndroidPay,PayPal,andothers.Thesedigitalwalletsprovidesecureandconvenienttransac:onsop:onstotheendcustomerandalsosignificantlyreducetheriskoffraudandassociatedchargebacksfore-commerceproviders.Inaddi:on,e-commerceproviderscanusetheirownvirtualcurrencieslikevirtualcoins,points,loyaltyrewards.Eachofthesecurrenciesrequirespecialhandlingduringpaymentprocessing.

•PaymentGateway:Thepaymentgatewayisthemediatorbetweenthee-commercetransac:onandthepaymentprocessingservice.Securityrequirementsforpurchasecardtransac:onsprohibitthedirecttransmissionofinforma:onfromthewebsiteorPOSsystemandthepaymentprocessor.Paymentgatewaysmaybeofferedasaservicebypayment

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processingvendorsorcontractedfromavendorwhoonlyoffersagatewayservice.

Merchantswhohavefounditdifficulttokeepupwiththeintroduc:onofnewpaymenttypes,suchaswallets,whiles:llofferingalocalizedpaymentexperiencewillfindthisasimpler,moreefficientapproach.

IBMcapabilitiesforpayment

Paymentprocessingandpaymentgatewayservetwodifferentfunc:ons.Paymentgatewaysarealwaysneededforinternetcommerce.Ifabusinessdoesnotacceptpaymentsonline,apaymentgatewayisnotnecessary.Forinternetmerchants,bothpaymentprocessingandpaymentgatewaysarerequired.Manypaymentprocessorsalsoofferpaymentgatewayservices–selec:ngasingleprovidercansimplifyissueresolu:onifthereisanoutageordispute.

TheIBMPaymentGatewayisaservicethatmeetssecurityandautoma:onrequirementsandcreatesadelighaulcustomerengagement.IBMalsoofferspaymentprocessingasamanagedserviceprovidinganend-to-endsolu:onwithglobalscope.

IBMPaymentsGateway:• Offersaprebuilt,ready-to-deploy,securee-commercepaymentssolu:onimplementedonacloudplaaorm.• Integratesseamlesslyintowebsites,mobilesites,smartphoneapps,andcallcentertools.• Providesaneasy-to-useinterfacecombinedwithalocalizedpaymentexperience.• Givesglobalretailers,billers,andsolu:onproviderstheabilitytosetupandmanagearobustonlinepayment

solu:onmorequickly,easily,andcosteffec:vely.

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DistributedOrderManagementSupportsinventory,orderprocessing,andordervisibility.Itorchestratestheworkflowofordersfromdistribu:oncenters/warehouses,suppliers,andthird-partyvendorsfordirectfulfillmentandstores.Distributedordermanagementdeliversasuperiorcustomerexperiencebyexecu:ngandcoordina:ngorderfulfillmentprocessesacrossextendedsupplychainnetwork.Itcanprovideflexible,process-basedmanagementofordersfrommul:plechannelsandenablecustomizedfulfillmentbaseduponuser-definedbusinessrequirements.Italsodeliverstherequiredvisibilityandeventmanagementacrossallfulfillmentac:vity–allowingtorespondquicklytounexpectedproblemsandmeetcustomerexpecta:ons.Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• OrderManagementandOrchestra5on:Manages,aggregates,andmonitorsordersfromvirtuallyallchannels,usuallywithanintelligentsourcingenginethatcoordinatesfulfilmentacrosstheextendedenterprise.Suppor:ngavirtualsingleorderrepositorygivescustomers,channels,suppliers,andtradingpartnersaccesstomodify,cancel,track,andmonitortheorderlifecycleinreal-:me.Flexiblefulfilmentgivesthecapabilitytocheckforinventoryavailability,providerule-baseddynamicalloca:on,andenabletransferswhenarequireditemisout-of-stock,selectloca:onsbasedoninventoryavailability,splitordersasneeded,andtosourceordrop-shipfromachannelpartner.

• GlobalInventoryVisibility:Providesaconsolidatedviewofinventoryinwarehouses,stores,andthird-partyvendors,helpingcoordinateinventoryacrossmul:plesites,enterprises,andsellers,allowingmanagerstotrackinventoryanywhereatbothinternalandexternalshipnodes.GlobalInventoryVisibilitysolu:onsgivesyouasynchronizedreal-:meavailabilityviewofvirtuallyallsupplyanddemandfrommul:plesystemsandchannels,includinginstore,inwarehouses,atdistributors,atsuppliers,andintransit.GlobalInventoryVisibilitysolu:onsuseanintelligentsourcingenginethatop:mizesinventoryuseacrosstheextendedenterprise,toprovidethebestAvailable-to-promise(ATP)datesandthemostefficientfulfillmentop:ons.Italsoiden:fiesshortagesandallowsinventoryplannerstoresolveproblemsbymanipula:nginventorybalances,throughalloca:onofsalesordersandexecu:onofpurchasesormovementofinventory.Datacanbesharedwithexternalsystems,customers,suppliers,andpartnersfordemandandsupplymanagement.

• ReturnsManagement:Providescapabili:estomanagetheen:reorderreturnsprocess.Thiscapabilityenablesthebuyerandthesellertoeffec:velytrackitemsthroughoutthereturnandrepairprocessandautomatestheproceduresthatreturnitemstostock.Real-:mestatusupdatesfromserviceandrepairorganiza:onsalsoenablesellerstoleveragethereturnsprocessingcycleasasourceofsupply.Returnsmanagementlinksmul:plereturnsorrepairrequeststotheoriginalsalesorders,providingrepairlifecycletrackingtotrackitemsthroughoutthereturnsandrepairprocesses,includingexchangeorders,refurbishmentandrepairrequests,andreturndisposi:on

IBMcapabilitiesforDistributedOrderManagementIBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagement(SaaSoffering)offerscentralizedorderorchestra:onandexecu:onofcoordinatedandcustomizedfulfillment,providingasinglesourceoforderinforma:onandasingleviewofsupplyanddemandacrossallsellingchannels.Itprovidesinventoryvisibilitytoallinternalandexternalinventoryloca:ons,whichgivesshoppersalternatepurchaseop:onsandaccuratepromisedates.Plusadirectedworkflowprocessautomatesexchange,return,andrepairmanagementwhilelinkingthetransac:ontotheoriginalsalesordertoprovidecompleteorderlifecycletracking.Aweb-basedcallcentersolu:onandastoreadd-onop:onsupportsinformedomni-channelinterac:onsandenables“orderfromanywhereandfulfillfromanywhere”capabili:esbyextendingfulfillmentop:onstostoreassociates.

Theon-premisesversionforIBMOrderManagementintheIBMWatsonCommerceporaolioisalsoavailableforcustomerswhoneedthesamecapabili:es.

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SupplyChainandLogis5csManagementThiscapabilityenablessystemstoplanandmanagetheproductsandlifecycle,supplynetwork,andinventory,includingreplenishments,distribu:onstrategies,partneralliancesandrelatedanaly:cs.Logis:csmanagementhelpsmanagetheinternallogis:csforpurchasing,produc:on,warehousing,andtransporta:onwithintheenterprisetomakesuretherightproductsareavailabletoendcustomersinthemostefficientandcost-effec:vewaypossible.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• SupplyChainManagement:Enablesprocurementofrawgoodsandmaterialstoeffec:vely deliverthe

finishedproducttoacustomer.Tradi:onally,thesupplychainoperatedindependentlyfrommarke:ng,provisioningorinventorymanagementandoienhadconflic:nggoals.Withtheadventofdigitalmarke:ngandfocusonomni-channel,thesupplychainhasbecomeanintegralandcri:calpartofserviceanddeliverytoacustomer.Forexample,weatheranaly:cscanimmenselyaffectthesupplychainmanagementandshouldbepartofitskeyconsidera:ons.

• ProductLifecycleManagement(PLM)andManufacturing:Supportsallaspectsofaproduct,fromincep:ontotheul:mateendoflife.Phasesincludedesign,engineering,manufacturing,distribu:on,andmarke:ngandencompasspeople,processes,andtechnology.EfficientPLMsystemsassistretailerswiththeever-increasingcomplexityrealizedbyaglobalmarketplace.Ithelpsretailerseffec:velymanagecomplexsupplychains,ever-changingcustomerpreferences,anddesignchallenges.

• SourcingandProcurement:Sourcingsupportsthecomponentoftheprocurementprocessthatdealswithsupplierselec:onandmanagement.Withaglobaleconomyandtheabilitytosourceandmanufacturerproductsacrosstheglobe,anefficientandintelligentsupplychainiscri:calforthesurvivalandsuccessofaretailer.Procurementsystemshaveadvancedsignificantlyandformthepivotallinkbetweencommerce,ordermanagement,anddelivery.

• SupplierandPartnerDataCommunica5ons:Enablesretailersandothercommercecons:tuentstosecurelycommunicatebusinessdocumentsonshipments,inventory,invoices,purchaseorders,acknowledgments,contracts,andthelike.Suchsystemsshouldhavetheabilitytoextract,classify,encrypt/decrypt,transform,andtransmitdatawithothercommercecons:tuentsthatareexternalorinternaltoaretailer.Inherentinsuchdatacommunica:onsaresecurity,highperformance,audit,verifica:on,automa:on,transportlayerindependence,andauthen:ca:onfortheretailerandtheirbusinessandtradingpartners.Theuseoftheblockchaintechnologyforsupplychainmanagementwilldrama:callyreduce:medelays,addedcosts,andhumanerrorthatplaguetransac:onstoday.Blockchaintechnologyallowsforsecureandtransparenttrackingofalltypesoftransac:onsacrossthesupplychain.

• Transac5onalEventLedgers:Transac:onsacrosstradingpartnerslikesuppliers,vendors,carriers,andB2Bcustomersaredriventhroughindividualenterpriseapplica:onsandthepartner’sapplica:on.Forexample,inavendorshippingsitua:on,apurchaserequisi:onissenttothevendor/supplierasanelectronicdocumentthroughvariouscommunica:onchannels.Thetransac:oneventlogismaintainedinPOmanagementsystem,offthesender,thebroker,andthereceivingvendor’ssalesordermanagementsystem.Thesesystemsthenworkinisola:onwithoutagoodwaytoensuretransac:onintegrityacrosspartnersortheirapplica:ons.Thereisalsonoeasywaytofindthetransac:onaleventsandlogsthroughatrustedrepository.Casesofdiscrepanciesoienrequireanaudit/disputebetweenthepar:esandmanualinterven:ontopulloutrecordsfromindividualsystemstovalidatethecorrectsetofeventsandtransac:ons.Some:mesintermediariesareneededthatbothpar:estrust,asincaseofcer:ficateissuingauthori:esfordigitalcer:ficatesorStockexchangesforstocks,U.S.federalreserveforbanking.Intermediariessome:mesbecomeabolleneckandarenotprac:calformanytransac:onswithincommerce.Distributedtransac:onsandeventsmanagedthroughcrypto-technologieslikeblockchainprovideasecureandintermediary-freeledgerandvalida:onoftransac:onsacrosspar:es.Blockchain-basedapplica:onsareevolvingrapidlytoprovidedistributedtransac:onalledgerstocapturetransac:onsandtransac:onaleventsacrosscommerceapplica:onsandpartnersinvolvedincommerce.

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• Transporta5onManagementandOp5miza5on:Transporta:onmanagementprovidesaretailerwiththeabilitytosource,transport,anddelivergoodseffec:velywhilemanagingcustomerdemandacrossmul:plemodesoftransporta:onandproviders.Transporta:oniden:fiesandusesthemostefficientandcosteffec:vemannertodeliverproductsandservices.Itgivestheretailerop:onsthatallowthemtomakecri:calbusinessdecisionsrelatedtoprofitabilityorcost,whileprovidingthemtheabilitytomaintaindeliveryschedulesintheeventofafailurewithintheirsupplychain.

IBMcapabili5esforSupplyChainandLogis5csManagementIBM’sSupplyChainandLogis:cscapabili:esareavailableon-premisesoronthecloud.Thesecapabili:escomplementthee-commerceanddigitalcapabili:es.

IBMMasterDataManagementoncloudprovidesacompleteandpowerfulproductlifecyclemanagementthroughextensibledatamodels,collabora:veworkflowmanagement,andproductmanagement,ensuringcompliancethroughaquan:ta:veandprobabilis:cpolicymonitoringandenforcementanddataqualitythroughadvancedsta:s:caltechniquesofsearchandmatch.Throughrichsingleandmul:-producteditscreensuserinterface,aretailercancreateandmanagecompleteandconsistentproductinforma:onacrossallcommercechannelswhileprovidingasingleviewtoalltheirsuppliersandpartners.

IBMEmptorisSourcingexaminescost,risk,andperformanceduringsourcingdecisionssoretailerscanop:mizevalueandthewaytheypricetheirproducts.Itoffersvisibilityintothecorporatesourcingprocessandautoma:onofvarioussourcingeventstohelpiden:fyandreducecostsacrossmul:plespendcategoriesandprovideflexibleawardingbasedonmarketcondi:ons.Itimprovescomplianceandmi:gatesrisksinsourcingprocessbyincludingquality,performance,andotherfactorsintosourcinganalysisandintegra:ngsourcingwithcontractmanagementandsupplierlifecyclemanagement.IBMProcure-to-PayforCoupacombinesupstreamanddownstreamprocurementcapabili:estodeliveraunifiedprocessthatallowsretailerstoreduceriskyspending,gainac:onableinsightintoeveryspendevent,eliminatecomplexpurchasingpolicies,andgainassurancethatunder-performingsuppliersareremoved.Theseproducts,alongwithIBMEmptorisSpendAnalysisandIBMEmptorisSupplierLifecycleManagementofferonestreamprocurementtoconnectallaspectsofprocurement,supplierlifecyclemanagement,andsourcingforaretailer.

IBMSterlingB2BIntegratorgivesenterprisesvisibilityintoandacrosssupplyanddemandchainsbyenablingbusinessprocessesacrossenterpriseandbusinesspartnersthroughasecurity-rich,high-performance,andhigh-availabilityintegra:onthroughsupplierandpartnerdatacommunica:ons.Theintegratorprovidesagraphicalprocess-modelingtooltosupportbusinessprocesseswithcustomizablepartnerconfigura:onstomanageandgrowtradingpartnercommuni:es.IBMSterlingIntegratorprovidesforlogicalsegrega:onofdatafromtradingpartnersthroughitsmailboxcapability,transla:onofstandardelectronicdocumentformats,andtransforma:onofdocumentsbetweenformats.Theproduct,coupledwithIBMSterlingFileGateway,providesforthereceiving,transmission,androu:ngoffileswithfeatureslikeautoma:cre-tries,non-repudia:on,andtraceability.

IBMBlockchainisatransac:onaleventledgerthatprovidesahighsecurity,isolatedenvironmentforbusinessestoconducttransac:onsoverapublicnetworkthroughapermissionednetworkandknowniden::eswithouttheneedforcryptocurrencies.Blockchainenablesverifica:onoftransac:ons,whichminimizestheriskofcollusion,tampering,anduninten:onalexposureofinforma:on,whileallowingenterprisestorecognizeandreduceoverheadofintermediariesandinefficientprocesses.AvailablewithIBMBluemix,enterprisescanbuildexper:seinenterpriseblockchaindevelopmentandaccessexper:seandtechnicalresourcesintheIBMBluemixGarageforBlockchaintoacceleratetheirblockchainventures.

WarehouseManagementEnablesefficientmanagementofwarehouseopera:ons.Combiningawarehousemanagementsystemwithawirelessnetwork,mobilecomputers,radiofrequencyiden:fica:on(RFID)technology,voicepickingapplica:ons,andbarcodingcanhelpfullyextendyourenterprisetothemobileworker,whileincreasingopera:onalefficienciesandenhancingyourcustomerservice.

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Inomni-channelcommerce,physicalstoresareincreasinglybeingusedasfulfilmentcenterstoenablepickupinstore,shipfromstore,andprocessreturnsatstores.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• WarehouseInventoryManagement:Supportssystemstoreplenishstock,trackcostsofinventory,trackprofits,

forecastinventory,forecastprices,forecastdemand,andmore.Theprocessinteractswith systemstotrackorders,shipping,costs,stockandsales,andsoiwarethatmaybeusedtopredictinventorystatusandtrackmaterials.Op:mizedinventorymanagementwillhelpkeepcostsincheck,maintainapropermerchandiseassortment,settargets,andmonitorprofitsefficiently.

• InventoryOp5miza5on:Op:mizescapitalinvestmentconstraintsorobjec:vesoveralargeassortmentofstock-keepingunits(SKUs)whilemanagingdemandandsupplyvola:litytoprovidethecorrectproductstoshelves.

• Inventory:Holdsthecompletelistofmerchandisingitemsorgoodsinstock–onhand,intransit,orreturned.

IBMcapabilitiesforWarehouseManagementIBMWarehouseManagementSystemisanon-premisessolu:onthatop:mizescomplexdistribu:onnetworksbyenablingcentralmanagementofinventory,labor,andprocessesacrossmul:plewarehousefacili:es.Usingthesupportedvendor-managedinventory(VMI)modelforinventoryorganiza:on,retailerscanreduceout-of-stockscenariosandreduceriskofunsoldinventory.IBMWarehouseManagementSystemoffersretailersandthird-partylogis:cs(3PL)enterprisesreal-:meandaccuratetrackingofinventoryinforma:onofthegoodsatagranularlevelusingalributeslikelotnumbers,serialnumbers,productclassifica:on,inventorystatus,andcomprehensiveinventoryaudittrailforallgoodsinawarehouse.Thisresultsingreaterefficiencyandcostsavings.

MerchandisingMerchandisingplanninginvolvesmarke:ngtherightmerchandiseorserviceattherightplace,attheright:me,intherightquan::es,andattherightpricewiththegoalofop:mizingmargins,grossrevenue,orshelflife.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• AssortmentManagement:Managingproductsandtheirvaria:onstomakethem

availabletothecustomersinameaningfulway.Goodassortmentmanagementenablescustomerstoeasilyiden:fyproductsbasedonfamiliarcategorieswhileshopping,helpsmerchantsworkwithdifferentcustomerprofilesfiungtheircategories,andenablesthemerchantstomaketherightdecisionsofwhatproductandassortmentstosellinapar:cularchannel.

• PricingManagementandOp5miza5on:Involveswaystosetandmanagepricingandpromo:onofproductandservicesbasedonpricingpolicies,strategies,goals,andobjec:ves.Withpricingandpromo:onop:miza:on,merchantssetappropriatepricepointsandpromo:onstoachievegoalslikeincreasingmarketshare,maintainingmarginsandprofitability,respondingtocompe::vepressuresandvola:lecosts,andmaintainingachannelpresence.Recentadvancementsallowcommerceproviderstoenabledynamicpricingandpromo:onstosupportpersonalizedpricingandpromo:onaloffers.Thepricingandpromo:onop:mizersalsoenablethemerchantstorun“what-if”simula:onstounderstandtheimpactofcertainpricingstrategiesandtac:cs.

• ProductPlacement:Enablesmerchantstofigureoutwhereandhowtodisplaytheproductsandservicesacrosscustomerchannelstohavemaximumposi:veimpactonsales.Theproductplacementsonthesitetremendouslyinfluencesales.MerchanttoolsshouldallowmerchantstodoA/Btes:ngandevaluatetheimpactofproductplacementorcontentselec:onwithinasiteorpartnerchanneltoachievetheirobjec:ves.Sta:s:calexperimenta:ontocarryoutvariousschemesandapproachesarebeingdrivenbycogni:vesystemsthateasetheburdenofmanualtrialanderrors.

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IBMcapabilitiesforMerchandisingIBMmerchandisingcapabili:esareavailableonthecloud.Thesesolu:onscomplementthepreviouslydescribedcapabili:esoftheIBMe-commercesolu:ons.IBMCommercesolu:onsalsointegratewiththirdpartyassortmentop:miza:onsolu:ons.

IBMPriceOp:miza:onhelpssellersop:mizeproductpricingusingcustomerdemandanalysisandwhat-ifscenariostomodelandop:mizepricesbasedonadvancedfactorsliketrends,itemelas:city,andseasonality.Itfurthersimplifiesthepricingmanagementbyprovidingcapabili:eslikepricingpolicydefini:onandenforcement,ruleconfigura:onusingnaturallanguageedi:ng,rulepriori:za:on,andrulerelaxa:on.

CommerceAnaly5csEnablesop:miza:onoftheshopper’sjourneyandimprovesthesalesandrevenueforthebusiness.Commerceanaly:csincludedigitalanaly:cs,cross-channelanaly:cs,socialcommerceandsen:mentanalysis,andmerchandiseanaly:cs.

CommerceAnaly:csshoulddrivethenext-bestac:onsolu:on.Anext-bestac:onsolu:ondeliversthemostappropriateac:onattheright:meacrosschannels,maximizingthecustomerandbusinessvalue.Personalizedinterac:onsareenabledbyacomprehensiveviewofacustomer,real-:mepredic:veanaly:cstoan:cipatecustomerbehavior,preferencesandautudes,andcross-channeldeliveryofbestac:ontoaddresscustomerneedandenhancelong-termbusinessrevenue.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• DigitalAnaly5cs:Enablesmonitoringofonlinecustomerinterac:ons,includingthe:mecustomersstayonaspecificsec:onorproductpageandclickthroughsforaspecificwebsite.Digitalanaly:csimprovesthecustomers’webexperienceanddirectstheiralen:ontospecificproductsorservices,whichtheyhavelikedinpastvisits.Theuseofdigitalanaly:cshelpsrenderadynamicofferforthecustomeronthewebsite.

• Cross-ChannelAnaly5cs:Enablespredic:ve,cogni:ve,andprescrip:veanaly:csacrossallthechannelsthatcustomersengagein.Predic:veanaly:csusehistoricaldataandfuturepredic:onsinspecificmarketstodelivertargetedcustomermessages.Cogni:veandprescrip:veanaly:csarebasedonhistoricaldatatopersonalizeeachshopperinterac:on.

• SocialCommerceandSen5mentAnaly5cs:FeedssocialmediasitessuchasTwilerandFacebookinforma:onaboutspecificproductsorserviceswithcommerceanaly:cs.Forexample,duetoaweatherpalernincertainregions,specificitemsmaybeingreaterdemand.Asinareasexperiencingbadweathermayneedextrainventoryofgenerators,umbrellas,andemergencyfooditems.

• MerchandiseAnaly5csandOp5miza5on:Drawsinsightsfromthecustomers’journeytoensurefurtherop:miza:onscanbeachievedformaintaininginventoriesandimprovingsalesandrevenues.

IBMcapabilitiesforCommerceAnalyticsIBMofferingsthatsupportcommerceanaly:csincludefunc:onalitythatisbuiltintoe-commerceSaaSandotherapplica:ons,aswellasintegra:onandcogni:veservicestoexpeditevisibilityintohybride-commercearchitectures.

IBMCommerceInsightsprovidesmerchandiseanaly:csandop:miza:oncapabili:estothemerchandiserwithbusinessdataandanaly:csinasingleview,allowingthemtogaininsightsintocustomerbehavior,marketopportuni:es,andcompe::vethreatsfasterwithouthavingtosearchacrossdifferenttoolsandsystems.Usingnaturallanguageandvisualiza:ons,ithelpsbusinessusersmakesenseofvastamountsofdisparatedata,highlightwhatisimportant,andprescribethenextbestac:onsforcustomerexperiencesandtomeetrevenuegoalsandmargins.

IBMWatsonandAlchemyServicesprovidethecapabili:esforanalyzingtones,socialcommerce,sen:mentanaly:cs,andweather-relateddecisionmaking.

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IBMShopperInsightsprovidesmerchandiseanaly:csandop:miza:oncapabili:esthroughintui:vedashboardsthathelpretailersandtheirtradingpartnersgainabelerunderstandingofconsumerbehaviorandactonthisinsighttoimprovepricing,promo:onalandassortmentac:vi:es,marke:ngplans,andmerchandisingini:a:ves.Itprovidesdetailedaffinityanalysisandcomparisonofshopperresponsestopriceandpromo:onaleventstodeliveracommonviewofashoppertoretailerandtheirtradingpartners.

Marke5ngMarke:nginvolvespersonalizedoffers,content,andproductpresenta:onsthatmovecustomersalongintheirjourneyfromproductexplora:ontopurchasedecisionstotransac:oncomple:on.Marke:ngchannelsincludetradi:onalcommunica:onchannels,directmail,email,mobile,andsocialmedia.

Digitalmarke:ngalongwithmobileandsocialchannelshasalteredtradi:onalmeansformarke:ngandcampaignmanagement.Understandingwhatdrivesconsump:onandshoppingbehaviorisnowkeytomaintainingandgrowingmarketshare.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• Marke5ngResourceManagement(MRM):Supportsplanningtodeterminestrategic• marke:ngchannels,messages,andini:a:vesandtoallocateappropriatebudgetsand• resources.Execu:onofmarke:ngac:vi:esinvolvesmanaging:melines,costs,internal,

andexternalresourcestoimplementini:a:vesaccordingtoamarke:ngplan.• CampaignManagement:Enablespresen:ngpersonalized,:mely,andrelevantmarke:ng

messagingacrossmul:plechannelsbyusingdynamicmicro-segmenta:onwithricherconsumerdataandsophis:catedmarke:nganaly:cs

Execu:onofanoutboundmarke:ngcampaigninvolves:

• Definingandsegmen:ngthetargetaudience• Definingcontentandoffers/messagesforeachsegment• Sendingoutcommunica:onsandtrackingresponses• Definingmeasurementstrategy(controlgroups,A/B)tes:ng

Loca:onawarenessiden:fieswherecustomersareatanymomentin:me.Thisfeatureisbecomingevenmorecri:calinaretailer’sabilitytopersonalizeacampaignforitscustomers.Bycombiningtheuseofmobileappsandalsoloca:on-basedservices,campaignscanbetrulypersonalizedandtheiraudiencetargetedveryspecificallywithcontentthatisrelevantandincontextofthecustomer’ssitua:on.

• RealTimeRecommenda5ons:Areal-:merecommenda:onengineisacentralizedmechanismforselec:ngandpriori:zingmarke:ngoffers,content,andproductsacrossinterac:vedigitalchannels.Product,content,andrecommenda:onsaboutoffersarebasedonthecustomer’scurrentshoppinginterests,searchqueries,wisdomofthecrowd,predic:vemodels,historyofthevisitor’sbehavior,anddatacapturedinthevisitor’sprofile.

IBMcapabilitiesforMarketingIBMMarke:ngCloud,apartofIBMWatsonMarke:ng,isasetofintegratedna:vecloudapplica:onsandservicesthataddressbroadneedsofmodernmarketers.ItincludessuchMRMfunc:onalityasbudge:ngandplanning,journeydesign,andjourneyanaly:cs.Itscampaignmanagementfunc:onalitysupportssinglewave,mul:-wave,andtriggeredcampaignswithpowerfulcustomersegmenta:onandautomatedA/Btes:ngdeliveredviaemail,SMS,andmobilepushchannels.Leadscoringandintegra:onwithCRMsystemsenablesnurturingandtrackingofcustomersfromini:alresponsetoconversion.TargetaudiencescouldbesyndicatedtopopularsocialnetworksitesviaIBMUniversalBehaviorExchange(UBX).

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IBMMarke:ngCloudRealTimePersonaliza:on(RTP)supportsdigitalmarketersintheireffortstoimprovecustomerexperiencebyallowingpersonaliza:onanddeliveryofthemostrelevantcontenttowebormobilechannelsforeachvisitor.

WithIBMWatsonMarke:ng,IBMMarke:ngCloudintegrateswithIBMMarke:ngSoiware,amatureandscalablesoiwaresuitethatcouldbedeployedonpremisesorincloudcontainersandsupportssophis:catedbusinessprocesses,highvolumeofdataprocessing,andthecomplexmarke:ngbusinesslogic.IBMMarke:ngSoiwaresuiteincludesIBMMarke:ngOpera:ons,IBMCampaign,andInteractproducts.

DataServicesE-commerceisdatadriven.Thekeytoproac:vemerchandisingorfasterresponsetomarketbehaviorsisvisibilityintoeventsandhabitscombinedwithdatarelatedtotheconsumer’sday-to-dayreality.

IBMcapabilitiesforDataServicesIBMBluemixPlaaormasaServiceincludesmul:pleop:onstoaccess,replicate,andsynchronizedataforcloudna:veandenterpriseapplica:ons.Whetheryouareinterestedinusingweatherdatatoop:mizelogis:csandinventoryorintoolsthatwillallowyoutoaggregatedatamoreeffec:vely,Bluemixoffersservicestoaccomplishthesetasksquickly.

IBMBluemixoffersthefollowingservicesrelatedtocommerce:• InsightsforTwiler• WeatherCompanyData• Predic:veAnaly:cs• Dataworks• dashDB

IBMDigitalMarke:ngoffersturn-keycloudservicesolu:onsthathelppowerthedeliveryofexcep:onalexperiencesforcustomersacrossthebuyerjourneybyusingcustomerdata,providinganaly:calinsights,andautoma:ngrelevantcross-channelinterac:ons.

TheWeatherCompany’sWatsonAdsoffersacogni:veenginetodeliverdata-driven,highlypersonalizedmessages.

BusinessPerformanceEnablesdescribingandunderstandingthealerts,metrics,andkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)anorganiza:onusestomonitorday-to-daycommerceac:vity,keeptrackofprogressagainstdefinedgoals,andadjustofferingsacrosscommercechannelsinresponsetomarketdemand.Tofacilitatethisoutputofmul:plesystemsisoiencombinedinsimple-to-viewdashboardsthataretailoredforaspecificlineofbusinessorbusinessrole.

Commerceanaly:csanddataservicessupporthighlygranularandreal-:mevisibilityforoverallcustomerac:vity,aswellasthecapabilitytodrilldowntoindividualtransac:ons.Digitalchannelsthatcombinemul:pletouchpoints,technologies,andplaaormsandthequestforop:malomni-channelretailhasmadeitdifficulttoaccuratelymeasurearetailers’businessperformance.Whiletherearemanymoreconsumertouchpointsandinterac:onstomeasure,retailerss:llrelyonsomesimple,fundamentalmetricstoprovideanaccurateviewoftheirperformance.ThesefiveareasareacommonpartofretailKPIs:

o Numberofcustomersinastoreortraffictotheirwebsiteo Conversionrates:Ofthepeoplewhovisitastoreorwebsite,howmanymakeapurchase?

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o Averagesalesvalueofitemspurchasedo Thesizeofashoppingbasketo Grossmargin

Transforma5onandConnec5vityThetransforma:onandconnec:vitycomponentenablessecureconnec:onstoenterprisesystemswiththeabilitytofilter,aggregate,modify,orreformatdataasneeded.Datatransforma:onisoienrequiredwhendatadoesn’tfitenterpriseapplica:ons.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• EnterpriseSecureConnec5vity:Monitorsusageandsecuresresultsasinforma:onistransferredtoandfromthecloudproviderservicesdomainintotheenterprisenetworktoenterpriseapplica:onsandenterprisedata.

• Transforma5ons:Transformdatabetweenanaly:calsystemsandenterprisesystems.Dataisimprovedandaugmentedasitmovesthroughtheprocessingchain.

• EnterpriseDataConnec5vity:Enablesanaly:cssystemcomponentstoconnectsecurelytoenterprisedata.• ExtractTransformandLoad:HelpsinbatchdataloadfordigitalcatalogupdatesinB2B2C.

IBMcapabilitiesfortransformationandconnectivity

IBMDataPower®Gatewayisamul:channelgatewayplaaormthatsecures,integrates,controls,andop:mizesthedeliveryofworkloadsacrossmul:plechannels,includingmobile,API,web,SOA,businesstobusiness(B2B),andcloud.

IBMIntegra:onBusisamarket-leadingenterpriseservicebus(ESB)thatoffersafast,simplewayforsystemsandapplica:onstocommunicatewitheachother.Itsupportsarangeofintegra:onchoices,skills,andinterfacestoop:mizethevalueofexis:ngtechnologyinvestments.Itprovidestheabilitytoperformbusinesstransac:onmonitoring(BTM)andisavitalplaaormfortheAPIeconomyandanaly:cs.

IBMAspera®offerstransfersoiwarethatmovestheworld'sdataatmaximumspeed,regardlessoffilesize,transferdistance,ornetworkcondi:ons.

Bluemixhasthefollowingtransforma:onandconnec:vityservices:

• TheSecureGatewayservicebringshybridintegra:oncapabilitytoyourBluemixenvironment.Itprovidessecureconnec:vityfromBluemixtootherapplica:onsanddatasourcesrunningon-premisesorinotherclouds.Aremoteclientisprovidedtoenablesecureconnec:vity.

• APIConnectisacomprehensiveend-to-endAPIlifecyclesolu:onthatallowsdeveloperstoautomatethecrea:onofAPIs.UsingtheAPIConnectservicesimplifiesthediscoveryofsystemsofrecords,enablesself-serviceaccessforinternalandthird-partydevelopers,andassuresbuilt-insecurityandgovernance.NewAPIsandmicroservicesaremanagedfromasingleunifiedconsole.IBMAPIConnectprovidesstreamlinedcontrolacrosstheAPIlifecycleandalsoenablesbusinessestogaindeepinsightsaroundAPIconsump:onfromitsbuilt-inanaly:cs.

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EnterpriseNetworkComponentsTheenterprisenetworkiswheretheon-premisessystemsandusersarelocated.

BusinessUserAbusinessuserormerchantaccessesthecommercesolu:onsonthecloudprovideroftheenterprisenetwork.

InternalChannelInternalChannel Retailing solutions create an interactive experience whether the customer shops in the store, over the phone with a customer service representative, or using a web-based call center. An internal channel uses the web to improve revenues and customer service in all channels.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• InStore:Integratestheonlinechannelwiththestore’schannel,toofferthebestofbothchannelsandpropel

overallrevenuegrowth.Retailersareworkingtodifferen:atethemselvesbydelivering outstandingshoppingchoicesandservicesinstores.Bydeployinginnova:vepoint-of-salesolu:ons,informa:onalkiosks,webtablets,andwirelesscommunica:ons,theycangainacompe::veadvantage.

• CallCenter:Providescustomerservicerepresenta:ves(CSRs)withasinglepointofaccessforaweb-basedcallcentersolu:onthatpovidescommerceinforma:on.Itenablesmoreinformedomni-channelinterac:onswithcustomerstohelpincreasesales.

EnterpriseApplica5onEnterpriseapplica:onsarekeydatasourcesforacommercesolu:on.Enterpriseapplica:onsusethecloudservicesandhostthelegacyapplica:ons.Wehavedescribedthreekeycapabili:esfore-commercebelowbutenterpriseapplica:onscanincludeanyotherlegacyapplica:ons:

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:• Finance:Supportsfinancialsystemsthatareanintegralpartoftheoveralle-commercesystem.Whethera

stand-aloneapplica:onoramodulewithinanEnterpriseResourcePlanningapplica:on,thefinanceapplica:onisconnected,atminimum,topaymentprocessinganddistributedordermanagement.Integra:ngthisback-endsystemisakeyrequirementbecauseitassures:melyrecogni:onofrevenueandreconcilia:onofaccountsandinventory.

• HumanResources:Supportstheworkforce,includingemployeesandcontractors,incommerceallaspectsofhumanresourcesmanagementsuchashiring,training,safety,retaining,payroll,benefits,andthelike.Effec:vehumanresourcemanagementmaximizesthebenefitsofworkforboththeworkersandtheorganiza:onconcerned.

• ContractManagement:Supportsthemanagementofvendorandcustomercontractsfortheenterprise.Atypicalcontractonthe“buyside”coversnego:atedtermsforprocurement,pricing,assortment,inventory,logis:cs,orderswithitems,quan:tyand:mes,legalterms,measurementsandenforcementswithexternalvendorsandsupplierswhoprovideproductandservicestothecommerceprovider.Thetypicalcontractonthe“sellside”coversnego:atedtermsforselling,pricingandpromo:ons,assortment,inventorylevel,logis:csterms,bulkorders,legalterms,measurements,andenforcementswithB2Bbuyingorganiza:onsthatpurchasefromtheenterprise.Thecontractmanagementsystemisalsoresponsibleforfedera:ngpor:onsofcontractstoindividualdomainapplica:onsforcontractexecu:onandenforcements.Thisincludesfedera:ngapprovedB2Bcatalogswithpricingandpromo:onstoe-commercesites,ordermanagement,andotherchannelproviders,sendingwarehousingandlogis:cscontractpor:onstothesupplychain,warehousemanagementandlogis:csmanagementsolu:ons,andsoon.Contractsystemsalsohaveafeedbackmechanismtoevaluatemetricsandenforcementforcontractsacrossdomainapplica:ons.

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IBMcapabilitiesforEnterpriseApplications

IBMoffersarangeofspecificapplica:onswithcapabili:essuitedtoenterpriserequirements,HR,andcontractmanagement.IBMdoesnothavespecificfinanceapplica:ons,buthasintegra:oncapabili:eswithallthemajorfinancesolu:ons,includingEnterpriseResourcePlanningproducts.

IBMKenexaoffersafulllineofHRSaaSproductsandservicestohelpcustomersinvariousHRac:vi:essuchasrecrui:ng,onboarding,andengagingtalent.

IBMEmptorisContractManagementSolu:onscoversallstagesofthecontractlifecyclefromcrea:on,execu:on,anddiscoverythroughrenewals,renego:a:on,performancemonitoringandanalysis.Thissolu:onenablescompaniestoac:velymanagealltypesofcontracts,includingenterprise,procurement,andsalescontracts.IBMEmptorisContractManagementprovidescapabili:esaroundglobalcontractvisibility,riskmanagement,measurementandcompliance,andproduc:vitymanagement.Thesolu:onalsoprovidescapabili:esaroundpersonaliza:on,interna:onalsupport,e-signature,mobilecontractmanagement,obliga:onmanagementandrepor:ng.

EnterpriseDataEnterpriseshostanumberofapplica:onsthatdelivercri:calbusinesssolu:onsalongwithsuppor:nginfrastructurelikedatastorage.Suchapplica:onsarekeysourcesofdatathatcanbeextractedandintegratedwithservicesprovidedbytheanaly:cscloudsolu:on.

Keycapabili:esinthisdomaininclude:

• ReferenceData:Masterdatainforma:onaboutproducts,loca:ons,suppliers,customers,storeassociates,andemployees.Masterdatamanagement(MDM)providesatrustedviewofcri:calen::es typicallystoredandpoten:allyduplicatedinsiloed.Some:meMDMisseparatedforcustomerdatasolu:onsandproductdatasolu:ons.Masterdatamanagementalsohelpstodetermineifacustomerisanexis:ngcustomerornewcustomer.

• Transac5onalData:Datafrombusinessinterac:ons.Thisdatadescribeshowthebusinessoperatesandincludestransac:onalmasterdatasuchaspurchaseorders(POs),advanceshippingno:ce(ASN),salesorder,shipment,receipts,andreturns.

• Ac5vity/BigData:Includescustomertransac:onhistory,webac:vity,ra:ngsandreview,socialchaler,marketdata,weatherandevents,andcontextualloca:ons.

• Opera5onMasterData:Includesprice,promo:on,inventory,cost,carrier,digitalcontent,andserviceproviders.Itwillalsohavemasterdigitalcatalogfortheproducts.

IBMcapabilitiesforEnterpriseData

IBMproducts,includingIBMMDM,IBMDB2,HBase,BigInsights,Filenet,andBigSQL,arewellsuitedtosupportthevolumeofEnterpriseDatageneratedbycommerceinclude.

IBMMasterDataManagementsolu:onsofferasimple,trustedviewofyourcompany’sdata,includingcri:calen::essuchascustomeriden:tyandproductuniquenames.Byofferingasingle,trustedviewofcri:calen::esthataretypicallystoredorduplicatedinsiloedapplica:ons,IBMMDMsolu:onshelpyouachievecustomer-centricobjec:vesandbusinessresultsfaster.

IBMDB2isdatabasesoiwarebuiltforthedigital,cloud,andcogni:veera.Itstores,analyzes,andretrievesdatawithextremeperformance,flexibility,scalability,andreliability.

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IBMBigInsightsisacompletesolu:on,includingSpark,tohelpyouquicklyandeasilyscaleanaly:cs.ItcombinesHadoopandSparktohelpyouquicklyprocessdata.YoucanuseBigInsightson-premises,onthecloud,orintegratedwithyourcurrentsystems.

IBMFileNetContentManagerisadocumentmanagementenginewithenterprisecontent,security,andstoragefeatures,plusprocessmanagementcapabili:es.

BigSQLisaSQLengineforHadoopthatusesasingledatabaseconnec:ontoconcurrentlyexploitHive,HBase,andSpark.YoucanuseBigSQLfordatawarehouseoffloadandconsolida:on.

EnterpriseUserDirectoryProvidesaccesstotheuserprofilesforboththecloudusersandtheenterpriseusers.Auserprofileprovidesaloginaccountandliststheresources(datasets,APIs,andotherservices)thattheindividualisauthorizedtoaccess.Thesecurityservicesandedgeservicesusethistodriveaccesstotheenterprisenetwork,enterpriseservices,orenterprise-specificcloudproviderservices.

IBMcapabilitiesforEnterpriseUserDirectory

IBMSecurityDirectoryServerisanIBMimplementa:onoftheLightweightDirectoryAccessProtocol.ThisproductservesasanenterprisedirectoryforcorporateintranetsandtheInternet.

SecuritySupports rigorous security needed at each step in the lifecycle of commerce applica:on—from raw input sources tovaluable insights to sharing of data among many users and applica:on components. Security solu:ons helpsdetect,address,andpreventsecuritybreachesthoughintegratedhardwareandsoiwaresolu:ons.Security services and products enable iden:ty and accessmanagement, protec:on of data andapplica:ons,andac:onablesecurity intelligenceacrosscloudandenterpriseenvironments. Itusesthecataloganduserdirectorytounderstandtheloca:onandclassifica:onofthedataitisprotec:ng.Keycapabili:esinthesecuritydomaininclude:

1. Iden5ty and access management: Iden:fy andmonitor who needs access to sensi:ve data andsystems in the e-commerce transac:on. This capability uses an enterprise user directory to provide variousaccesscontrolmechanismstocommerceservices,system,protocols,andsociallogins.

2. Applica5onanddataprotec5on:Thefollowingservicessupportapplica:onanddataprotec:on:o Data encryp+on: Secures the data interchange between components to achieve confiden:ality and

integrity by following standards such as payment card industry (PCI) compliance and data securitystandards(DSS).

o Infrastructure and network protec+on: Security alerts displayed through an integrated dashboard helpsguardcommercesolu:oncomponentsbothclusteredandnon-clusteredenvironments

o Applica+onsecurity:ListscommonalacktypesfortheInternet-facingapplica:ons.Analyzesopensourcesystems, third-party applica:ons, and libraries to share security vulnerabili:es. Prevents illegal accessintothesystemthroughDenialofServiceandchecksforcross-sitescrip:ngsuchasOWASPtoprotecttheapplica:onbeforedeployingintoaproduc:onenvironment.

o Data ac+vity monitoring: Tracks all submiled queries and maintains an audit trail for structured andunstructureddates.

o Data lineage: Describes what happens to data as it goes through diverse processes. Commerceapplica:onsoffervisibilityintotheanaly:cspipelineandsimplifytracingerrorsbacktotheirsources.Itenablesreplayingspecificpor:onsorinputsofthedataflowforregenera:ngthelostoutputtomaintaintheaccuracyandcompliancerequirement.

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3. Securityintelligence:Theintegratedsecurityapproachincommercesystemeventmanagementprovidessecurityvisibilityonknowne-commerceindustrythreatssuchasDOS,maliciouscodealacks,anddatathei.Italsoshowsaccidentalthreatsbasedonirregulari:es,likespikesincertainkindofhitsonthesite,spikesinhitsfromaspecificarea,oralargeamountofdataextrac:ontoaninterfacethatgenerallyhandlesloweramountsofdata.Thesecurityanaly:cssuitedinevolvingthreatsintheindustrystandardsaretrackedandalerted.

IBMcapabilitiesforsecurity

IBM’sTenEPapproachcreatesacomprehensivesecurityposturefortheenterpriseacrossinfrastructure,plaaorms,andsolu:ons.IBMoffersanassessmentofthecommerceapplica:onlandscapeinaworkshopmodein:ghtcollabora:onwiththeenterprisesecurityorganiza:ons.Thefollowingchallengesarecomprehensivelycoveredaspartoftheassessment:

• Datasecurity:Possibledatabreaches• Privacy:Personalrights,trust• Regulatory:CompliancerequirementslikePCI,FIPS,andthelike• Fraud:Iden:tythei

Theassessmenthelpsyoureviewthefollowingareasinyoure-commercesolu:on:• Interfacesecurity:Ensureadequatesecuritycontrolsareconsideredwhileintegra:ngthesolu:ons

toothersystemsintheenvironment• Datasecurity:Databasesecuritycontrolstoprotectdatabasesagainstcompromisestotheir

confiden:ality,integrity• PointofSalesecurity:Ensuresgapsandvulnerabili:esincustomercheckoutpoints• Securityvulnerabili:esarisingoutofthird-partyaccesstocustomerenvironments• Iden:tyandaccessmanagement• Applica:onsecurity• Mobileappsecurity:Interactwithsecurityservicestocheckauthoriza:onofuserstoperformapp

specifictasks• Securityintelligenceandanaly:cs:Analyzeslogsandotherdatafromtheintegratedsystemsand

solu:ons,alongwithstudyinguserac:vity,databaseac:vity,andnetworkac:vity• Dataarchivalanddatadestruc:on

PleaserefertotheIBMCloudArchitecture:Securitydomainforaddi:onaldetails.

IBMcommercesolu:onsarehostedinasecureddatacenterandoperatedincompliancewithISO-27002standards.Transac:onsareoperatedwithData-in-Mo:on-Encryp:on(DIME)andData-at-Rest-Encryp:on(DARE).Thetransac:onsdonotstoresensi:vepersonalinforma:on(SPI)orPCIdata.TokensreferencingthepaymentscanbeheldwithintheIBMDigitalCommerceserviceorthehostedenvironment.

IBM®QRadar®IncidentForensicsallowsyoutoretracethestep-by-stepac:onsofapoten:alalacker,andquicklyandeasilyconductanin-depthforensicsinves:ga:onofsuspectedmaliciousnetworksecurityincidents.

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Thecompletepicture

Figure3providesamoredetailedarchitecturalviewofcomponents,subcomponentsandrela:onshipsforacloud-basede-commercesolu:on.

�Figure3:Detailedcomponentsdiagram

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IBM product support for e-commerce solutions in the cloud Nowthatwe'vereviewedthecomponentmodelforane-commercesolu:oninthecloud,let'slookathowyoucanuseIBMproductstoimplemente-commercesolu:ons.Inprevioussec:ons,wehighlightedIBM'send-to-endsolu:onfordeployinge-commercesolu:onsusingcloudcompu:ng.Inthenextsec:on,weshowyouhowIBMcapabili:esmaptospecificcomponentsinthereferencearchitecture.

Scenarios

ThefollowingscenariostaketypicalB2BandB2CusecasesandshowhowIBMproductsareusedtoimplementfollowingthereferencearchitecture.

• Scenario1.Digitaltransforma:onofretailer’scommerceenabledbycloud• Scenario2.IncreasingCustomerEngagementThroughPersonaliza:on.• Scenario3.Digitaltransforma:onofretailer’sB2Bcommerceenabledbycloud

Thesescenariosreusethecomponentsthattheorganiza:oniscurrentlyusingintheirtradi:onaldatacenters,whichwedepictaspartoftheenterprisezoneofthearchitecture.

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Scenario1.Digitaltransformationofretailer’scommerceenabledbycloud

Acustomerwantstobuynewgarmentstoalendaweddingin4-5weeks.Hesearchesaspecificretaileronline.Theretaileroffersthemerchandiseonlineaswellasinretailstoresinthemall.Theretaileralsomaintainsnewdesignerclothesforspecialoccasion.Figure4illustratestheflowofthistypicalscenarioforthedigitaltransforma:onofretailer’scommerceenabledbycloud.

� Figure4:Flowforthedigitaltransforma5onofretailer’scommerce

1. Thecustomerbrowsesinforma:onabouttheneededgarmentusingthemobilephoneasachannel.Thecustomerfindsthatanewdesignofthegarmentwillbeavailableincoupleofweeks.Thecustomerregistersonthesitetoreceiveinforma:onabouttheavailabilityofthenewdesign.Thecustomer’spresenceonspecificmobilepagesandpreferencesenteredaspartofregistra:onprocessarecapturedviathecommerceanaly:csandmarke:ngcomponents.IBMMasterDataManagementcapturesthecustomerregistra:oninforma:onintheEnterpriseData.IBMdigitalanaly:cscapturestheinforma:onaboutcookiesandsites.IBMUniversalBehaviorExchange(UBX)capturesthecustomer’sbehavioronthesite.

2. Aierafewdays,themanufacturer/retailmerchantintroducesthenewdesignintheirproductcatalog.Theproductlaunchisdonethroughamarke:ngcampaignonvariouschannelsincludinganemailcampaign.Theupdatede-commercecatalogsareavailableforaccessonvariouschannels.ThemerchandiserupdatesthecatalogusingIBMDigitalCommerce(Cataloghelpstopublishonvariouschannels).

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3. Thecustomergetsanemailfromthemerchantaboutthenewgarmentdesign.Thecustomeropenstheemailandclicksonthelinktogotothesitetolearnmoreabouttheproduct.Digitalexperiencecomponents,suchasdigitalmessaging,areusedtoengagethecustomer.Themarke:ngtoolusesMDMregistra:oninfoandusesIBMMarke:ngCloud(SilverpopEngage)tosendatargetedaudienceemailaboutnewproduct.

4. Basedonthecustomerprofile,threevaria:onsoftheproductareshownonthesite.Whenthecustomerappearsonthesite,marke:ngdynamicpreferencesarerenderedusingthecustomer’spreferences(capturedin#1and#3).IBMMarke:ngCloudRealTimePersonaliza:on(RTP)orIBMInteractcanbeusedtoprovidepersonalizedrecommenda:onsforthechannel.

5. Thecustomerusesaspecialpromo:onofferedtohimasapreferredcustomer.Heearnedthisstatusbasedonhispastpurchasesandtheordercapturecomponentofe-commerceapplica:ons.IBMDigitalCommercehelpstoachievethisstep.

6. Thecustomerplaceshisorder(paymentprocessingoccurs)usingthee-commerceapplica:ons.Thespecificcustomerordercaptureinforma:onisforwardedtodistributedordermanagementusingIBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagement.

7. Themerchantfulfillstheorder,shipstothecustomer,andsendsanemailtothecustomerwithtrackinginfo.Distributedordermanagementcallsthesupplychainmanagementtofulfillthecapturedorder.IBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementisusedfororderorchestra:on.

8. ThemerchantalsocheckstheinventorytoreplenishfromtheircontractsupplierbyusingtheIBMSterlingWarehouseManagementSystem.

9. Themerchantsendsouttheappropriatepurchaseorders,dropshiprequests,andservicerequests,andreceivesshipmentno:ces,acknowledgements,andinvoices.Thesupplychainandlogis:csmanagementcomponentsenablethesestepsthroughuseofIBMWatsonSupplyChain.

10. Informa:onobtainedfromsocialanaly:cs(includingsurveyfromthiscustomer)suggeststhatthenewvaria:onoftheproductismorepopularthantheoriginal.Thecommerceanaly:cssubcomponentssocialcommerceandsen:mentanaly:csareusedforthispurpose.IBMAlchemyLanguage,oneofthenaturallanguageservicesfromtheWatsonDeveloperCloud,simplifiessocialanaly:cs.

11. Informa:onobtainedfromsocialanaly:csispassedtomerchandiseinventoryforfurtheranaly:csandop:miza:on.Themerchandisingisadjustedbasedonfeedbackfromcommerceanaly:csandwarehousemanagement.IBMWatsonCommerceInsights providesmerchandiseanaly:csandop:miza:on.

Scenario2.Increasingcustomerengagementthroughpersonalization.

Greenwheelsisacompanythatsellsbicyclesandrelatedclothingandaccessories.Thecompanyprovidesacross-channelshoppingexperiencethatcombinesproducts,content,andmarke:ngoffersorganizedbyequipmentcategory.Thecompanywantstoincreasecustomerengagementandconversionratesinitsdigitalchannelsbypersonalizingvisitorexperiencebasedonavisitor’sskilllevel.Thechallengeisthatskillleveldataarecurrentlynotavailable.Greenwheelswillusethecapabili:esofIBMWatsonMarke:ngtocollectthedata,personalizecommunica:ons,andbelertargetcontentandmarke:ngoffers.

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� Run5meflow

Datacollec5on1. ProductsintheGreenwheelsproductcatalogaretaggedwithappropriateskilllevelvalues.IBMDigital

Commerceisusedtoaddaddi:onalmetadatatagsintheproductcatalog.2. ContentitemsintheGreenwheelsContentManagementSystemaretaggedwithskilllevelvalues.Thewebsite

andmobileaccountmanagementaremodifiedtoallowregisteredcustomerstospecifytheirskilllevel.IBMdigitalexperienceisusedtomanagemetadatatagforcontentitems.

3. Marke:ngoffersarecreatedtoappealtovisitorswithspecificskilllevels.IBMCampaignisusedtomanagetheoffers.

4. Emailcommunica:onsaredesignedtocontainamixofcontentappropriateforvariousskilllevels.SilverpopEngage,acomponentofIBMMarke:ngCloud,isusedtodefineemailtemplatesandcontentpersonaliza:onrules.

5. GreenwheelsIBMDigitalAnaly:csisconfiguredtotracktheskilllevelalributeasthecustomeropenemaillinks,searches,andnavigatesthewebsiteandmobileapp.CustomerbehaviorsarepublishedbyIBMDigitalAnaly:csandconsumedbyIBMMarke:ngCloudandIBMCampaign.

Personaliza5onsetup

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6. Theskillleveldatafromcustomerprofiles,marke:ngofferresponses,IBMDigitalAnaly:cs,andplacedordersarecollectedinacustomerdatamart,whichispartofenterprisedata(IBMDB2BLUorHadooporNetezzaappliance).

7. IBMSPSSdevelopspredic:vemodelstoes:mateskilllevelsfornewvisitorsandcustomerswithinsufficientorconflic:ngdata.

8. Product,content,andmarke:ngofferpersonaliza:onrulesandareconfiguredtomatchandrankitemsbasedonavailableskilllevelvalues.Personaliza:onrulesaredeployedtoGreenwheelswebsiteandmobileapp.(YoucanuseIBMRealTimePersonaliza:on,acomponentofIBMMarke:ngCloudorIBMInteract,forthisstep.)

9. YoucanredesignIBMMarke:ngCloudSilverpopEngageemailtemplatessothatpersonaliza:onrulesselectcontentandoffersrelevanttoarecipient’sskilllevel.

Customerexperience10. Thecustomerreceivesanemailfeaturingrelevantequipmentandar:clesaccordingtohisorherskilllevel.11. Thecustomerclicksonanemaillinkandopensanar:cleontheGreenwheelswebsite.Thecustomerreadsthe

ar:cle,findsitinteres:ng,anddecidestoexplorethetopicinmoredetails.12. ThecustomerentersasearchphraseintoasearchboxpoweredbyIBMWatsonConversa:onAgent.13. IBMRunTimePersonaliza:onorIBMInteractpersonaliza:onrulesareappliedtocontentandproductsearch

results.Searchresultsarefilteredandsortedbasedontheirrelevancetothesearchcriteriaandcustomer’skilllevel.Relevantmarke:ngoffersaredisplayedonthepage.

14. Thecustomerseesasmaller,morerelevantlistofcontentitems,products,andmarke:ngoffers,decidestomakeapurchase,andselectsanitemfromthelistandplacesanorder.IBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementisused.

Ongoingimprovement15. Businessuserslookforaddi:onalalributestoimprovepersonaliza:onandprovidemoreengagingcustomer

experience.IBMdigitalanaly:cs,customeranaly:cs,IBMCommerceInsights and Journeydesignercanbeused.

Scenario3.Digitaltransformationofretailer’sB2Bcommerceenabledbycloud

Amul:-brandapparelretailerisbuyingnewstocktorefreshitsstoresforthefallseason.Theretailerhasarela:onshipwithamajorapparelbrandandhasacontractinplacetobuythefallcollec:onfromthebrand.Thecontractspecifiesthetermsandcondi:onsofthepurchase,howmanyitemstheretailerwillbuy,andanyco-brandingarrangementsthatarerequiredtodeliverthestocktotheretailersstoresacrossthecountry.Themul:-brandretailercutsoutpurchaseorderstotheapparelbrand’scompanywellinadvancetoassuretheproductsaredeliveredpercontractbeforethefallseasonselling.Forthisscenario,IBMoffersend-to-endandspecificusesoiwaredependingonthecustomer’sexis:nginvestment.

IBMEmptorisincludesmodulesformanagementofcontracts,supplierlifecycle,sourcing,spendanalysis,procuretopay,andprograms.IBMEmptorissolu:onsintegratewithotherIBMofferingsfore-commerce,includingPricingOp:mizer,OrderManagement,WarehouseManagement,andSupplyChainSolu:onsonthecommerceplanningandexecu:onsideandCommerceInsightsontheanaly:cs.IBMBlockchainplaaormandAPIisusedtorecordtransac:onssuchasthecontract,order,shipment,invoice,receipt,paymentetc.tomakeuseofthedistributedledgerandprovideasingleviewoftruthtointerac:ngpar:essuchasthebuyer,seller,andcarrier.

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1. Contractsetup:Atermcontractisnego:atedbetweenthebrandownerandthemul:-brandretailer.Thecontractisapprovedandisstoredforexecu:oninthecompany’scontractmanagementsystem.Thecontractmanagementsystemfederatestheappropriatecontractpor:onstorelevantcommercesystemstoexecutethecontract.Forinstance,theapprovedcatalogwithpricingandpromo:onalsetupissentovertothee-commerceapplica:on.Theordervalida:onrules,inventorypromisingrules,andfulfillmentop:miza:onrulesaresenttodistributedordermanagement.Thewarehousingrulesrelatedtopacking,labeling,prin:ng,andothervalueaddedservicesissenttothewarehousemanagementsystems.Thelogis:csandtransporta:on-relatedcontractrulesaresentovertosupplychainandlogis:csapplica:ons.IBMEmptorissourcingisusedtosetupandmanagecontractsthatcaptureallthetermsandcondi:onsforthecontractincludingproducts,pricing,complianceandotherdeliveryandpaymentterms

2. Browse:Themul:-brandretailer’sbuyerbrowsestheproductsfromthefallcatalogselec:ononthebrand’sB2Bsite.TheB2Bsiteshowsthefallcatalogcollec:onalongwithproductdetailsandpricinginforma:onbasedonthecontractedcatalogandthepricesnego:atedaspartofthecontract.IBMMasterDataManagementonCloudfederatesthecontractedcatalogitemsalongwithpricingtermsforbuyerstoIBMDigitalCommerce-WebSphereCommerce.ThesearchengineonIBMDigitalCommerce-WebSphereCommerceenablesthebuyertosearchfortheproductsunderthecatalogusingvarioussearchcontextsincludingcogni:vesearchesinnaturallanguage.

3. Shop/Purchase:Thebuyermakestheselec:onofproductstobepurchasedandaddsdeliveryinstruc:ons.Thebuyercreatestheorderandsubmitsitwithacorporatepayment(accountsreceivables)configuredwiththe

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financialsystems.Thee-commercesystemvalidatestheordertoensuretheorderisvalidperthedefinedcontract.Thee-commerceorderissubmiledtothedistributedordermanagementfororderorchestra:onandexecu:on.IBMDigitalExperienceonCloudmanagesthecontextandshoppingexperienceforthebuyer.Asthebuyeraddstheproductstohisshoppingcart,theshoppingcartinac:velymanagedinIBMDigitalCommerce-WebSphereCommerce,whichcalculatedtheordertotals,applicabletaxes,deliveryterms,andsoonbasedonthecontractualagreements.Finally,duringtheordersubmission,IBMPaymentsGatewayprovidesasinglepointofcontactforanytenderthatcanbeusedtomakethepurchase.IBMPaymentsGatewaymanagesallthepaymentrulesandcondi:onsasrequiredbythecontractandintegrateswithvariousexternalfinancialins:tu:onsandinternalcreditmanagementsolu:ons.

4. Orchestrate:Thedistributedordermanagementmanagestheorderandappliesthecontracttermsforordermanagementrelevanttoinventoryavailability,priori:es,deliveryterms,shippingloca:ons,andschedulesandcreatedoneormul:pleshipments.Theshipmentsaresenttothewarehousemanagementsystemforshipmentexecu:onatoneormorephysicalwarehouseloca:ons.IBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementreviewstheglobalinventoryavailability,deliveryterms,andsupplychainconstraintsandthenvalidates,orchestrates,sequences,andschedulestheorder.IBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementintegrateswithfulfillmentsystemssuchasIBMWarehouseManagementSystemshipmentmanagementandexecu:onfromthewarehouses.

5. Fulfill:5a)Thewarehousemanagementsystemwavestheshipmentsitreceivesapplyingop:miza:onsrelevanttofulfillment.Theshipmentsarepicked,packedandstagedforcarrierpickupthroughtransporta:onandlogis:cs.IBMWarehouseManagementSystemprovidesacloud-enabledwarehousingsystemthatenablesuserstoplan,op:mize,andexecuteonwarehousetasks.Ordersdroppedbyordermanagementareconvertedtoshipmentsandprocesseslikepickingandpackingareperformedandmanagedasend-to-endprocesses.5b)Thewarehousemanagementsystemsinteractcloselywiththesupplychainandlogis:csmanagementsystemstomanagetheshipmentpackagesand/orshipmentloads.IBMWarehouseManagementSystemintegrateswithTransporta:onlogis:csmanagementsystemssuchasKewill(formerlyIBMTransporta:onmanagementsystemtomanagethelogis:csanddistribu:onofshipmentsthroughthesupplychaintothecustomer.

6. No5fy:Theshipmentno:fica:onsaresentbacktodistributedordermanagementwhichthencommunicatestotheretailersystemsbysendingthemadvancedshippingno:fica:ons(ASNs)throughaB2Bgateway.Thisallowstheretailerssystemstoenablereceivingoftheshipmentsasperthecontractwiththebrandapparelprovider.Op:onally,theseno:fica:onscanalsoberecordedthroughblockchain-baseddistributedtransac:onmanagementsystems.Whenshipmentsareshippedoutfromthewarehouse,IBMWarehouseManagementSystemno:fiesIBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementabouttheshipment,therebyresul:nginrelevantorderstatusupdates.IBMDigitalCommerceOrderManagementtransmitstheconsolidatedno:fica:onsfromtheIBMSterlingB2BIntegratorthatwilleventuallyno:fythecustomer’ssystemstoensuretransac:onsarerecordedforfurtherprocessing.Duetothedisparatenatureoftransac:ons,itisquitepossibletoendupwithdiscrepanciesoneithersideresul:nginanexpensivereconcilia:onaierthefact.DistributedledgerplaaormsandsmartcontractsusingtheIBMBlockchainAPIareensuringasystemicglobalreconcilia:ontherebyaccelera:ngpaymentsandreducingexpensiveauditsandli:ga:onsduetotransac:onaldiscrepancies.

7. Invoice:Appropriateinvoicesaresenttotheretailerthroughthecompany’sfinancialsystemsthroughaccountreceivablesasperpaymentandsellementtermsinthecontract.Op:onally,theseno:fica:onscanalsoberecordedthroughblockchain-baseddistributedtransac:onmanagementsystems.IBMBlockchainAPIsandplaaormscanprovideamechanismforrecordinvoicesthattransmitwithinthepar:cipantnetworkinamalerofminutes.

8. Reconcile:8a)Theretailerno:fiesthebrandaboutthereceiptofshipmentsanditsfinancialsystemssendoutreconcilia:onoradjustmentsasperthenego:atedcontractandinvoicesreceived.8b)Sellementtransac:onsarecreatedandpaymentissuedaierthisreconcilia:onstem.Theuseofblockchain-baseddistributedtransac:onsystemscangreatlysimplifythereconcilia:oncost,:me,andeffort.IBMBlockchainAPIsandplaaormscanprovideamechanismfordistributedinvoicesandsignificantlyreducepaymentreconcilia:onandsellement:mesbyrecodingallthesetransac:onsinaglobaldistributedledgerwithimmutabletransac:onalproper:es,therebyimprovingoverallcashflowsandefficienciesfortheproviderandthebuyer.

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Deploymentconsiderations

Deploymentconsidera:onsneedtostartwiththecaptureandconfirma:onofthebusinesscapabili:esrequiredfortheenterprise.Usagescenarios,theabilitytoanalysedataacrosschannelsandsystems,andactonitallguidethechoiceofas-a-serviceop:ons.

Thee-commercearchitecturepresentedinfigure-2isapplicableacrossindustries;banking,retail,manufacturing,communica:ons,industrialproducts,andthelike.Anyenterpriseneedstoconsiderexis:nginvestmentsandtheirownorganiza:onalmaturitywhenmakingdeploymentdecisions.Merchants,whomustadaptquicklytothemarketplace,willfindcloudservicestobeamoreresponsivefounda:onforinnova:onandreal-:meanaly:cs.IBMcanprovideindustryspecificexper:setohelpguidetheorganiza:onthroughatransforma:ondiscussionandhelpiden:fywhereadop:onofcloudserviceswillmakethemostimpact.

IBM’sCloudPlaaormandCloudUnitdeliverofferingsthatfallwithinthetwostandardcloudcompu:ngmodels:servicetypeanddeploymenttype.Ifyouarenotfamiliarwiththedefini:onsanddesireprescrip:veinforma:ononhowtochoosebetweentypesyoumightfindtheCSCC’s“Prac:calGuidetoCloudCompu:ng”[6]agoodplacetobeginyourdecisionprocess.Enterprisesinretailanddistribu:onfrequentlyhaveasignificantinvestmentinon-premisessystems,par:cularlyforwarehouseandinventorymanagement.Mostmerchantsengagedinonlinesaleswilluseathirdpartyfortheirpaymentgatewayandpaymentprocessing.Sincee-commercesolu:onsaremostfrequentlybuiltonahybridarchitecture,theCSCC’s“Prac:calGuidetoHybridCloudCompu:ng”[7]canhelpyounavigatetheintricaciesofhybridplanningandgovernance.Oncegovernanceanddeploymentguidelinesareset,IBMCloudMatrix®cloudbrokerageas-a-servicesoiwareallowsyoutotakethosepoliciesandusethemtoplan,buy,andmanage(e.g.broker)soiwareandcloudservicesfrommul:plesuppliersacrosshybridcloudsfromasinglescreen.TheIBMCloudpointofviewistoofferchoicewithconsistency.Thisgivesyoutheabilitytoextendanexis:nginvestmentviaarangeofcloudservices,posi:onenvironmentsfordevelopmentandtes:nginpublic,dedicatedorlocalspaces,andgainelas:citybyusingoff-premisessystemsthatmirrortheiron-premises’counterparts,whileseeingvisibilityacrosstheen:rearchitecture.TheabilitytochooseenterpriseclassSoiwareasaServiceisaboontostart-ups.

AmongtheIBMhybridofferingsfrequentlyadoptedfore-Commerceuseare:

• IBMBluemixCloudPlaaorm(PaaSandIaaS)• CleversafeObjectStorage• IBMBluemixDedicatedonOpenStack,IBMBluemixLocalonOpenStack• IBMWebSphereApplica:onServerandMiddleware• DataPower

Whetherornotacommercearchitecturecomponentisavailableacrosscloudadop:onpalernsandon-premiseswillalsodictatethechoiceanduseofapublic,private,orhybridcloud.TheCSCCpapersreferencedatthebeginningofthedeploymentsec:onandinthereferencessec:onofferguidanceonSLAsaswellasconsidera:onsforresiliency,interoperability,andthelike.Guidanceonhowtodefinecloudgovernanceforpublic,private,andhybridarchitectureisalsoprovided.

Customersecurityconcernsareuniversal.Whetheracommerceapplica:onisB2CorB2B,usersneedtohaveconfidencethattheirpersonaldataandpaymentinforma:onissecureandtheirprivacymaintained.ThecostandefforttoimplementPCIordatasecuritycomplianceframeworkswillguidedecisionsonwhatcloudtypeandservicestoadopt.ChoosingIBM’sPaymentGatewayasaservicecansimplifythesedecisionsandassurethehighestlevelofcompliance.

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Organiza:onsthatarestart-upsorhaveverylilleinvestmentsine-commercemaychoosetousepublicordedicatedoff-premisescloudenvironmentstorealizeinfrastructurecomponentsinsupportofself-managedcommercearchitecturecomponents.Further,theyhavetheop:ontousestandardizedSaaScommercecomponents.

Organiza:onsthathavemadeinvestmentsinon-premisessystems,suchasERPs,billingmanagement,orwarehouseandinventorymanagementhaveadifferentsetofopportuni:esfortheirarchitecture.Whenaddingnewcomponents,theyhavechoicessuchasusingastandardizedpubliccloudcommerceSaaSofferingorusingdedicatedoff-premisescloudsolu:onstosupportcapacitybursts.

IBMBluemixcloudplaaormsupportsthiskindofhybridapproachwithflexibleandinteroperableservices.Anyorganiza:onneedstomakeregularassessmentsofboththeirtechnologyanddevelopmentprocessesthatsupporte-commercetoassurethatthesemeetthebusinessneedsofagilityandinnova:on.Whenthereareneedsforimprovement,adecisioncanbemadetomoveintoeitheraprivateorpubliccloudcomponent.Organiza:onsthathavemadeheavyinvestmentsinon-premisescommerceassets,yetfindtheirSLAsarenotmetbycurrentpublicordedicatedcloudcapabili:esprovidedbyCSPvendors,wouldlikelybenefitfromahybridcloudadop:onpalern.

Onceyou’vedecidedonacloudpalern(hybrid,publicetc.),afinalreviewofallsystemintegra:onpointsisessen:al.YoushouldgivethoughaulanalysisofharmonizingSLAs,assuringend-to-endchangeno:fica:on,andupda:ngsecuritypolicies.Integra:onpointsarealsoapoten:alareaofbollenecks.Assurethatmiddleware,APIappliances,PaaS,servicebusses,andthelikearecapableofmee:ngpeakusage.Con:nualtransac:onmonitoringofintegra:onpoints,frombothasecurityandperformanceperspec:ve,ishighlydesirable.IBMoffersperformanceandavailabilitymonitoringbackedintoBluemix,asSaaS(IBMAPM)andon-premisessolu:ons.

Summaryofkeyconsidera5ons

Thearchitectofane-commercesystemneedstomatchtherequirementsofbusinesstoolsandtechnologiescapableofsa:sfyingcustomers,merchants,complianceen::esandfinancialservicesproviders.Theubiquitousnatureofsocialmediaasavehicleforcri:cismmeansthatanunsa:sfactoryexperienceforanyoneofthesecons:tuentscouldturnintoaviral,real-:mepublicrela:onsproblem.CloudservicessuchasSaaSandPaaSaretypicalapproachestomee:ngtherequirementsofrapidupdates.Cloudelas:cityandresilienceassureunan:cipatedburstsintrafficcanbesupported.Thefollowingarekeyconsidera:onsforarchitectsaimingforanop:maluserexperienceacrossalle-commercechannels:

• Designtomeetneedsforrapidchangeandupdatesincustomer-facingcomponents.• Assurehighperformanceacrossallcomponents.• Carefullyanalyzesysteminterfacesanddependencies.• Assurefutureinteroperabilitybychoosingopenstandards-basedcomponentswhereverpossible.• Makedatasecurityafocalpointacrossthearchitecture.

Conclusion

ThispaperoffersadeeperunderstandingoftheCSCCCloudCustomerReferenceArchitecturefore-commerceanddiscusseshowIBMproductsandsolu:onssupportthekeycapabili:esrequiredtoimplementandopera:onalizethereferencearchitecture.Thesecapabili:esrangefrome-commerceordercapture,fulfillment,digitalmarke:ng,procurement,sourcing,datacommunica:ons,socialanaly:cs,digitalanaly:cs,andcogni:vesolu:ons.Thesolu:onsdiscussedinthispaperhavebeendeployedatmanycustomersallovertheworldandareimplementedbasedonopenstandards.Thispaperalsooffersprac:calguidanceintheformofdeploymentop:onsandusecasescenariosbasedonactualIBMcustomerimplementa:ons.IBMhastheexper:se,experience,andproductsyouneedtobuildaworld-classe-commercesystembuiltonthecloudthatcanscaletomeetfuturedemandsandchangingindustrytrends.

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Acknowledgements

Themajorcontributorstothiswhitepaper,listedinalphabe:calorder,areGauthamAcharya,BobBalfe,GlenDaly,SunilDube,BobFlaherty,MarkGriner,ShwetaGupta,GopalIndurkhya,KarlKama,HeatherKreger,N.Krishnan(Kily),VikramMalhotra,RaghuveerNagar,LehoNigul,AnbuPonniah,SiddarthRao,KarolynSchalk,RajSubramanian,andVinceTkac,andMichaelYesudas.

References[1]CloudCustomerArchitecturefore-Commercehlp://www.cloud-council.org/deliverables/CSCC-Cloud-Customer-Architecture-for-eCommerce.pdf[2]HowIBMleadsinbuildingwebapplica:onhos:ngcloudsolu:onshlps://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cloud/library/cl-ibm-leads-building-web-app-hos:ng-cloud-solu:ons-trs/index.html[3]How IBM leads building mobile cloud solutions Implementing the CSCC Customer Cloud Architecture for Mobile hlps://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=WH&infotype=SA&htmlfid=KUW12383USEN&alachment=KUW12383USEN.PDF[4]HowIBMleadsinbuildingbigdataanaly:cssolu:onsinthecloudhlps://www.ibm.com/developerworks/cloud/library/cl-ibm-leads-building-big-data-analy:cs-solu:ons-cloud-trs/index.html[5]CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil2016,CloudCustomerArchitectureforIoT,Version1.1hlp://www.cloud-council.org/deliverables/CSCC-Cloud-Customer-Architecture-for-IoT.pdf

[6]CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil2014“Prac:calGuidetoCloudCompu:ng”[7]CloudStandardsCustomerCouncil2016“Prac:calGuideToHybridCloudCompu:ng”

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