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Prepare to put your business on the Net!
Getting your workforce ready for the Net!
Change, for some people, brings about feelings of insecurity
and uncertainty. However, change can provide a wealth
of opportunities. It is important to get the support
of all your workforce; it is vital that they are behind
your plans for the Internet. Throughout your business
there are many individuals who can contribute to the
various aspects of a prospective Web site. You will
have a much smoother ride through the whole Web site
development process if you get key individuals from
all areas of your business together to define the elements
of the site. Besides creating a better Website it also
has the effect of improving team spirit and togetherness.
It should be fairly obvious which of your people would
hold the different responsibilities that having a Web
presence carries. The tasks include:
- There will be a need to update the site on a regular
basis.
- Who will do it?
- Agree review format and frequency.
- Analyze the effectiveness of the site and feedback.
- Who should be the Webmaster?
- Who will be responsible for the text?
- Who will have final sign-off?
- Who will be responsible for all commercial aspects?
Choosing
& registering Your Domain Name
A business needs to think carefully about the image
it is projecting, both through its company stationery,
the logos, its uniform... and how the company is to
be perceived on the Net. Choosing a domain name is not
something that should be rushed. Like the naming of
any company, it is something you will be
living with for some time and not something that is
easily changed. When choosing your domain name the choices
facing you may not be as simple as at first they appear.
At the first level you are likely to want one of these:
- www.mycompany.co.uk
- www.mycompany.com
Unfortunately, you may find that someone else has taken
your company name. What then?
Get your team to brainstorm and come up with suggestions
that could be suitable. Employ a little lateral thinking.
It's not necessary to have your company name in there!
E.g. A good name for a coffee producer would be www.coffeebeans.co.uk.
Its simple, its memorable and easy to type. OK. So you've
decided on your domain name. You can also use this to
register your chosen name. However, I would recommend
looking at our web hosting services before registering.
Click
here
What about Foreign Languages?
But what about dealing in foreign languages? What's the
point of trying to deal with the rest of Europe if none
of your staff speak French or German, let alone Flemish
or Greek? It's a problem. However, we can translate your
Website and any communications for your European customers
for you.
That gets you round one problem, but then what about local
laws governing what you can and cannot offer over the
Net? And what do you do if your site is viewed in France
where language laws dictate that your site must be able
to be viewed in French if you intend to trade there? You
should also have a French language
version or you will be contravening French law.
The fact is that, whatever you want to do with your site,
you should stick to a few simple basics and first establish
your ground rules for playing the Internet commerce game.
Should your site be priced purely in sterling or in a
more widely acceptable currency such as US dollars or
Euros; or should you go for some of the more popular currencies
as well - say Yen and Francs, for example?
How will you cope with shifting exchange rates?
How often will you update your prices?
How will you explain that the final amount on your customers
credit card bills may vary according to the prevailing
exchange rate?
How will you cope with packaging and delivery charges?
Also consider how varying time zones mean that you must
be careful with expressions such as '24-hour delivery'.
Are you going to provide multiple language support, or
stick to English as 'the language of the Internet'?
If you are planning to trade cross-border, things are
not always as straightforward as they seem and you should
think things through in great detail before trading across
border, so even though your company is UK-based you still
have to think of the implications of your Web presence
around the world.
Payment Systems
OK, How do you charge for your products or services?
There are a number of options to choose from and it is
to say the least confusing when trying to consider where
to start.
'e-cash' systems mainly fall into one of two categories:
'open' or 'closed'.
Prepayment cards for telephones are a good example of
a closed scheme since they cannot be used for anything
else other than to make a phone call.
Open e-cash systems are like ordinary money, being exchangeable
anywhere for any goods. The Mondex ( http://www.mondex.com)
payment card is a good example of this, albeit that it
never really took off in the public's imagination as a
viable alternative for cash or credit cards.
As far as the Internet is concerned its security that's
the burning issue... You need something that facilitates
online transactions. Simply put an Internet payment system
must satisfy the following four conditions:
- Only the parties to the transaction can read the
details.
- No one can have access to, or be able to tamper
with, the transactions en route.
- Both parties of the transaction should be able to
positively identify one another.
- Evidence that a transaction has actually taken place
can be provided.
Confidentiality
For a message to be classified as being confidential,
no one apart from the intended recipient can read the
message. To ensure that a message remains confidential,
a method of encrypting the data must be used. There
are plenty of encryption routines, some of which involve
the same key for both encrypting and decrypting the
message, whilst others work using the public key process
whereby the message can only be decrypted by the recipient
using a private key.
Integrity
Integrity is maintained, provided that no one can tamper
with a message en route, to its destination. Generating
a digest (checksum) can provide the Integrity of a message.
What normally happens is that an algorithm is applied
to the text, which generates what is known as a hash
number that describes the message. If the original message
is tampered with in any way, the checksum will be different,
and so the recipient can check that all is as it should
be. For this to work the checksum needs to be sent separately,
as an encrypted message, from the original message data.
Authentication
If both the receiving and sending parties can prove
each other's identity then authentication has been achieved.
Because both parties to have faith in each other's identity
they can make use of a trusted third party that issues
a digital certificate. This certificate confirms a link
between a person or company and a public key. This way,
when someone receives a public key, they can tell exactly
whom it is from. These trusted third parties are known
as Certification Authorities and there are several,
such as Thawte & Verisign.
Non-repudiation
If there is evidence that a transaction actually took
place, then neither party is able to repudiate the transaction
at a later date. Non-repudiation is the trickiest of
the 4 secure conditions to meet and relies itself on
four more requirements to be met. A protocol such as
Netscape's 'Secure Socket Level'(SSL) must be used to
provide authentication between the server and client
and requires digital IDs to be sent backwards and forwards
before a secure connection is finally made. Both parties
must synchronize their exchanges. Evidence tokens are
exchanged reflecting the results of the transaction.
The status of the transaction must be clear at all times.
SET: Another common security standard is the Secure
Electronic Transaction protocol which has the backing
of MasterCard International and Visa International.
It differs from SSL in its use of time stamping and
digitally signing to offer non- repudiation. SET is
likely to become the backbone of credit card dealings
on the Net.
The Simple Solution
If your site is going to be used primarily for business-to-
business purposes, then an appreciation of the basics
of payment systems will be necessary. For business-to-consumers
websites, the majority of e-shoppers will expect to
pay for goods via credit card and this is probably the
easiest payment system to set up for a small business.
To set up an online shop or some other kind of e-commerce
site, it is imperative that you have to have the logistics
in place to process the orders. Or you will be letting
down your customers which, in today's customer-focused
business ethic, is the last thing you want to do.
Probably the type of business best suited for e-commerce
is one that could sell its products using a catalog.
They make up a diverse range. In many cases they already
have a business model that is similar to that of an
online store; in other words, they already have a distribution
channel set up and they have a system that can handle
incoming orders.
In its simplest form, you could have an e-commerce system
that relies on orders being received via e-mail or by
snail-mail.
You will have displayed an order form into which your
customers will type their requirements. It's easy, it's
effective ... and it's losing you sales!!!. It knocks
your image, and if you expect your customers to navigate
around your site, returning to the order form every
time they come across a particular product they want,
then think again - would you?
That said, it is simple, and if you do not have a wide
range of products it is a highly workable solution.
However, before long, you will want to set up a fully
functional online store.
This may be posing the other burning question about
the Internet:
Is It Safe To Use Credit Cards On The Internet?
A popular myth about the Internet, which will almost
certainly be raised by some of your customers, is that
credit card transactions are risky because your card
number can be stolen. Lets think about this sensibly
for a moment...
How do you use your credit or debit card in the 'real
world'?
How many people get to see your card number?
How many times have you freely given your card details
over the
phone?
I bet some of you have done it in a crowded room where
anybody could be noting the details down!! I say this
because I know I have!
In a shop does your card spend any time out of your
view when you are purchasing a product?
The simple truth is that card numbers are easy to steal.
It's takes a great deal of effort and technical knowledge
to steal numbers on the Internet and a single card number
just isn't worth the effort to steal. Modem browsers
now encrypt the data they send, and most of the Web
sites at which you can use your credit card run on secure
servers that have their own built-in encryption. So
when you visit one of these secure sites, enter your
card number, and click the button to send it, your number
will appear as meaningless gibberish to anyone managing
to hack into the system. Always bear in mind that credit
card companies regard online transactions as being the
safest kind of credit card transaction.
Doing the Biz
Regardless of your size, the golden rule on the Internet
is Keep
It Simple Stupid(KISS).
Don't offer too many choices to your visitors.
Categorize your products into groups.
Use graphics sensibly, but don't overdo it.
Keep your order form simple to use. Only ask for the
minimum of details necessary.
Always offer your customers a choice of payment system.
Many are still very wary of giving out their credit
card details over the Net, despite the different security
systems in place, so you could, for instance, allow
your customers to print out the order form and post
it to you complete with a check.
Always offer a secure system for credit card payments,
such as SSL. Ask your lSP what its procedures are for
dealing with this.
Normally the lSP will have to set up your site with
a trusted certificate from a third party company or
Certification Authority such as we mentioned earlier
and this will probably cost you
between about $150 and $1000.
Stick in the Muds!
I hope you can't wait to get your store up online,
but before you do, there is a great deal of money to
be made on the Internet but, you could just as easily
lose your shirt. Research has shown that two out of
every three businesses on the Internet fail. Most of
the virtual malls that have sprung up in there thousands
have failed. The combination of software bugs, limited
selections, and slow download times have even led some
to describe the Internet as the High Street from Hell!
But those same researchers also conclude that e-commerce
will get much better in ways that we can only guess
at now.
Do you think you can predict the advances in Internet
technology over the next five years? I'm sure I can't.
One thing I am certain of is that if a site is carefully
designed and marketed correctly, then serious amounts
of money can be made today!
Trade Marks, Copyright & The Law
In this country the copying of copyright work in any
medium by electronic means is treated as copying under
the Copyright Designs and Patent Act of 1998 unless
the copyright owner has given his permission.
Therefore, in theory copying any graphic image from
somebody else's Website could technically put you in
the position of having committed an offense. If your
company Web site includes text and graphics that have
been copied from elsewhere on the Web then your company
could be in breach of the act as well.
Written By Chris Falck | Director Rose Data Systems
Ltd
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Domain
Registration 
