CIS5100 Assignment 2: Bonsai Vet E-commerce Case Study Report

This report presents a case study on Bonsai Vet, a mail-order business aiming to transition to an e-commerce model. The study explores the company's current operations, including its recent implementation of a database management system, and proposes recommendations for successful e-commerce and mobile business adoption. It details the necessary hardware, software, and networking infrastructure, along with a proposed system architecture. The report also addresses collaboration systems and privacy concerns. The analysis provides insights into the benefits of e-commerce, such as expanded reach, improved services, and streamlined operations. It recommends the implementation of open-source platforms, collaborative systems, and mobile applications to enhance customer engagement and streamline supply chain operations. The report concludes with recommendations to assist Bonsai Vet in planning the development of its e-commerce platform and selecting individual components for successful implementation.

MAIL ORDER CASE STUDY
Report
Letter of Transmittal
October 20, 2018
To the Dean,
University
Dear Mr. ______:
I am submitting a report on "Adoption of E-commerce model by Bonsai Vet's" which explores
the current system of the mail-order business and recommends the adoption of e-commerce and
mobile business model with recommendations for successful implementation and operations.
I hope this report is useful for the organization.
Sincerely yours,
Student Name
Enclosures:
Task Journal
Case Study Report
Executive Summary
This report explores the case of Bonsai Vet which is a mail-order business organization that has
recently developed a database management system and is planning to convert its brick and
mortar business model into an e-commerce model. This report explores the elements of
transformation to suggest how development can be planned for the company. It includes
recommendations on the hardware, software, and networking needs. The report also suggested
development of a collaborative system for the team and following steps to ensure privacy of the
new implementation. The insight from the report can assist Bonsai Vet in planning the
development of its e-commerce platform and take the company to the next level of digitization.
The report covers the details of different software, hardware and networking components along
with the proposal of an appropriate architecture with hardware, software and networking devices
and equipment's identified for the need of the development of the project. The case study report

would help Bonsai take a decision on whether to go ahead with the e-commerce transformation
and if positive then what all software and hardware would be required for the development. It
would also help the company when developing an actual system for e-commerce, M-commerce,
and communication architecture as well as in selection of individual components.
Contents
Letter of Transmittal..........................................................................................................1
Introduction.......................................................................................................................2
E-Business and mobile business..........................................................................................3
Hardware, Software & Networking Infrastructure.............................................................5
Software Proposal...........................................................................................................9
Hardware Proposal.......................................................................................................11
Architecture..................................................................................................................12
Scope of Work...............................................................................................................13
Collaboration system........................................................................................................13
Privacy.............................................................................................................................14
Conclusions & recommendations......................................................................................16
References........................................................................................................................18
Introduction
This cases study explores the possibility of converting the mail-order business of Bonsai Vets
into an e-commerce and mobile based platform. The company has already implemented a
Database Management System (DBMS) that was proposed by to Dr. Drew Little by
Mendelssohn Technologies which utilized Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel for building a
Decision Support System (DSS). The consultancy firm has come up with yet another proposal
for business transformation by adopting e-commerce technology. This transformation is likely to
help the company streamline its operations, automate some supply chain processes, enhance the
productivity of the people working in the organization, and increasing revenues with the
provision of more products and better services faster.
This report explores the possibility of this transformation with the identification of software,
networking, and hardware needs as well as the collaborative system for the company. Currently,

the company is taking orders through the mail which is time-consuming and has administrative
costs. Moreover, with manual processes involving sending of catalogs through the mail and
receiving orders through calls is a time-consuming process with conversions going slow which
presents limitation before business regarding expansion and servicing. With the implementation
of e-commerce, the company would be able to expand its reach and improve its services. Mobile-
based applications can also be installed for the internal usage by the company employees and
external usage by users for order placement and tracking and by partners for order management.
E-Business and mobile business
An e-commerce system is a web 2.0 system that has revolutionized the world of internet. It
involves content sharing through open source platforms, generation of content by users, and
collaboration inside as well as outside of an organization. To convert the business of Bonsai into
a web 2.0 model involving e-commerce and mobile-based business model, the organization
would need a system for sharing content and bringing coordination between people working in
the organization and the people who are stakeholders to the organization outside. These would
include the suppliers, channel partners, and customers(Jasicek, 2004).
The company would use an open system for the development of the e-commerce platform which
would have hardware and software components using public standards of development. The
system would allow third-party applications to be implemented on the platform through open
source integration. Wordpress is an open source content management system that can be used by
the company for the development of its platform. Wordpress would allow the company to create
an e-commerce platform that can be used over the web as well as over the mobile through the use
of responsive themes for the company website(Aulkemeier, et al., 2016).
Besides the development of the e-commerce interface, the company would need to collaborate
within the company as well as with the customers to facilitate business. For this, the company
would need to implement a collaborative system that would help people sharing information over
the platform and collaborate within the company as well as outside with partners and customers.
This collaborative system could consist of some different communication technologies put

together to enable a seamless communication across the organization as well as allow
communication with external parties like suppliers and customers(Kinder, et al., 2016).
With the adoption of e-commerce and collaborative environment, the company would be able to
increase the reach of its business by promoting itself to the world through the web. The product
and services offered through e-commerce can be mass customized or personalized to cater to
requirements of specific customer segments. This would open up new markets for the company,
and it would be able to sell to a wider public spread across wider geographical locations. Another
major benefit of using this model is the cut down of intermediaries that can sit between the
company and its customers as the company would able to list its catalog online and sell to the
customer directly(Klaönja-Milićević, 2005).
This would eliminate the need for middlemen and thus, reduce the margin addition thereby
allowing the company to sell products to its customers at a lower price. This disintermediation
would eliminate the distributors and retailers from the supply chain of Bonsai and would allow
the company to directly reach out to customers through the website. Faster communication is
another big advantage of using e-commerce platform which interactivity between customers and
the company representative through online chats on the e-commerce portal. Moreover, the
engagement and interaction of consumers visiting the e-commerce platform can be measured
through the use of analytics and can be analyzed to develop insights to help the company better
understand its customers(Oracle, 2017).
Bonsai Vet is a specialty pharmacy service that provides medication for animals in Melbourne,
Florida. The company has suppliers medicine and direct customers who are the pet owners.
Thus, the company would adopt the B2C e-commerce business model to sell the products from
the company to the customers directly. The company would take the orders of the listed products
from the customers and once received; the order would be placed at back-end with the available
suppliers who would be delivering the products to the customers on their direct addresses. To
ensure that the company has visibility into the delivery of goods, it would have communication
integration with the suppliers as well as the customers(Tirkkonen, 2017).

Further, the company can have the mobile-based business model to support its business from
anywhere and anytime. The company can choose to create m-business model in addition to the
web-based model so that consumers can make purchases through their mobiles. For this, the
company can have a responsive website that allows people to use website on the mobile easily
for making purchases as well as have the mobile application for multiple processes involving
multiple users like placing orders for customers, accessing order data and inventory data for the
employees, and updating inventory for the suppliers(Akamai, 2016). A single mobile application
developed for the company can address multiple needs of multiple people within and outside of
the company and streamline its supply chain operations with real-time visibility into the system.
With the use of the mobile application, the company would also be able to update the customers
about the new promotions or offers as well as communicate about latest happenings of the
company(Mathew et al., 2007).
Having a mobile commerce platform would bring a number of benefits to the organization and to
consumers such as bringing together the resources of the organization including people and
information on a single platform, provision of data in real time, enhanced capability of
monitoring information related to business, improvement in workflow through integration of
activities, and opening up of new business opportunities through mobile offering like mobile
shopping, digital content sale, and location-based services(Bouverot, 2013).
Advanced mobile technology can be used by the company with the use of RFID tags that would
be used for scanning and keeping inventory data of the products. This RFID tag scanning would
allow employees of the company to automatically record the details of the product being stocked,
transferred or sold eliminating the need for manual entry by operators that have possibilities of
error. With this, the accuracy of data capture would be increased, and the data captured in this
way can later be used to draw insights into users that can help a company in establishing
marketing strategies.
Hardware, Software & Networking Infrastructure
Information systems infrastructure involves planning how an organization would build the IT
infrastructure, deploy systems, use the data, share the same and manage the company processes

and its assets. A strong IT infrastructure can help the company reduce its operational costs,
improve the productivity of its employees, optimize the operations, increase profitability, and
enhance growth for the organization. The infrastructure would consist of the networking,
hardware and the software. Hardware includes physical devices like computers, mobile devices,
and other IT assets like RFID tags. The software consists of the e-commerce portal, monitoring
software, and mobile applications.
NETWORK: The network consists of a communication system which would connect the
multiple devices including RFID, computers, and mobiles. The network would consist of a client
and a server. A client device would take the requests for accessing data from the servers while
the server would respond to these requests with the delivery of the information required to the
system users. Users can then individually access the data through the end user devices like
computer, tablet, laptops, and mobiles(Sitepoint, 2011).
HARDWARE: The hardware system would consist of six key components including a central
processing unit, with a control unit and an arithmetic logic unit, primary storage RAM containing
temporary storage, secondary storage hard disk, electromagnetic medium, solid state devices,
and other medium of storage such as optimum medium and RFID, output devices, and
communication devices. The devices would be used for data input, storage, communication, and
output. Input devices would include RFID scanners, e-commerce website consumer interface,
mobile-based consumer interface, and computer systems used by company employees for data
entry. The storage or processing devices would include the hard disk and other storage devices.
Communication devices would include the devices that would be used for sending and receiving
communication needed to run the system such as mobiles, routers and networking
cables(Bonaventure, 2011). Output devices would include computer systems, mobile application,
e-commerce application, monitors, printers, plotters, and speakers. The company would need
database server and application servers to take care of the commands related to communication
and database queries. Application server would help the end users access the data and reports on
the company operations through user-friendly interfaces and would have the information
contained in caches while database server would have the master data stored that can be retrieved
upon raising specific queries through applications(Sherburne, 2014).

SOFTWARE: To set-up the software component of the IT infrastructure of the company, the
company would be using two types of software. These would include applications used for
controlling the hardware such as the operating system for mobiles and computer systems which
would include Windows, Apple OS, iOS, and Android and the application systems including
web browsers, databases, word processor, spreadsheets, email services, content management
system, and mobile application. The e-commerce website would be integrated with the payment
gateway to allow customers to place orders and make payments online. Besides this, the website
must also have security solutions, SEO, backup features, and social media integration. This
software can be used for providing needed functionalities to the consumers and other internal or
associated users of the website. It would allow the website to create a position in search engine
listing and allow to communicate with the company directly through chat and social
media(V.Srikanth & R.Dhanapal, 2011).
COMMUNICATION NETWORK: The communication network would provide a link between
people in the company and its customers as well as suppliers so that information can be
exchanged between them to gain strategic benefits. Some components would be needed to create
this network in the company, and these include network interface card for storing hardware
address, switch, hub or a router for distribution of communication signals through the internet,
and modem to allow internet connection for devices through telephone
connection(Muthukrishnan & Sullivan, 2012). With these networking systems and devices used,
the company can build a local area network or wide area network for its companywide usage.
LAN would connect the systems within the city where the company is operating and can be used
for internal communication between employees. WAN would be used for connecting to external
parties like partners and customers allowing company personnel to get connected to people
living in different locations through the internet(Hajibashi & Bhatti, 2017).
NETWORK Topology: For connecting various devices in the network, some different topologies
can be used from bus, star, ring, hybrid, and wireless. Bus networks involve a connection of all
the devices used by the company to a single backbone which makes the network strong but is
high in cost. This topology is not recommended for the company as the company has distributed

resources. In the star topology, all devices can be connected to a central hub through which all
the data would pass. With a single location to operate from, this topology can be useful. As the
company is operating from one store and selling the products online, this topology can be used
allowing all the company systems to connect to a single hub that monitored and guides the data
transfer across devices(TSALGATIDOU & VEIJALAINEN, 2000).
ARCHITECTURE: The architecture of the whole IT system of the company can be based on a
peer to peer network or a client-server network. In peer to peer connection, the computing power
of individual components of the network is used to carry out transactions, and in the client-server
network, data is searched on a database that sits at the backend. The front end is handled by
communication devices that are handled by the consumers or customers for placing requests for
data while at the backend bulk processing of data is performed. This is the more appropriate
model for the current company has it would have a centralized data storing all the information
about orders, partners, inventory, and consumers which would be accessed through the servers
based on the requests posted by individual users operating client devices that can be many(Sell,
2014).
NETWORK Components: For establishing communication networks, the company would need
to use the transmission media and data transfer protocols. Transmission media can include
cables, Radio waves, and optical fiber. Protocols to be used would include the ethernet, File
Transfer Protocol, TCP/IP, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The protocols should be
unanimously used with all the software and hardware to allow for interoperability. The company
would have a Domain Name brought for the website which would convert the internet protocol
addresses into the domain for the company web pages allowing users to access the web pages
through the domain name. The domain name would use the category codes for the country it is
operating in which is “.us” to get an upper edge on indexing with location advantage.
Alternatives to use as a category for domain are .com, .biz, and .org. For the transfer of data,
different media would be needed which could be wired or wireless. The wireless media would be
used for the external communications between the company representatives and the partners or
clients while wired media would be used for internal communication and connections. Wireless

media that would be used would include Wi-Fi and radio frequencies through the use of
RFID(IBM, 2013).
SECURITY: The network allows an exchange of a large amount of data over the communication
networks which can put the system to the security risks like data breaches, hacking, theft and
more. To protect the company from such threats, the traffic generated over the web need to be
encrypted which can be done using a secure socket layer and secure hypertext transfer protocol
which combines SSL and HTTP. The company could be using this combination for enabling
secure identification of any user of the system accessing the server through the
internet(Englander, 2012). It is important that the data that is being exchanged over the mobile or
web-based application is prevented from getting into the hands of unauthorized users who can
otherwise use the sensitive data to harm a company or its consumers through misuse. Besides
having SSL certification, the website can also be strengthened through the installation of plugins
that are created for providing specific security functions such as data verification, authentication,
monitoring, scanning, and more(Blossom et al., 2007).
DEVICES: The mobile devices used by the employees, partners, and customers with the
application installed for the company data processing would be a part of the system. Basic
internet connectivity from 2G to advanced connectivity through 3G or 4G would help users gain
access to the company database through queries(Etxeberria et al., 2014). The devices would
include internal computers, servers, and RFID readers as well as external devices like mobiles
and laptops or computers that are used by the customers. While the company would have a
specific count and configuration defined for the infernal devices, it would not have any control
on the types of devices and their number for the external users and the company should have an
architecture developed to accommodate as many devices as possible(Moertini, et al., 2014).
.
Software Proposal
The software used for the system would consist of DNS, storage space through hosting, e-
commerce application, M-commerce mobile application, and security software.

Description Specification Features Cost
DNS 1 for ten years .us extension for
category
$500
Storage Space on
web
100 TB Online hosting $5000
E-commerce
application
Website Catalog
Cart
Product pages
SOcial Media
sharing
$100,000
Mobile Application M-commerce
application
Catalog
Cart
Product pages
Communication
system
$50,000
Security Software Enterprise-wide
software
Firewall
Antivirus
Antimalware
Data protection
$20,000
TOTAL $1,75,500

Hardware Proposal
The hardware used for the system would consist of 25 personal computers with each provided to
one employee of the company and with installed operating systems. OTher than these computers
for internet users, the hardware system would contain server hardware, networking cables,
routers, Modems, RFID tags, and RFID scanners.
Description Quantity Configuration Cost
Personal computers 25 Intel Core i7
processor, 1 TB
hard disk
$550,000
Operating System 25 Windows 10 $130,000
Server Hardware 4 1.7 GHz Tower
server
$80,000

Networking Cables 50 Optical FIbre $200
Routers 5 NETGEAR 5G $500
Modem 2 DSL 300 T $200
RFID Tags 100 Wireless tags $1500
RFID Readers 10 Silicon Wireless
UHS system
$10,000
TOTAL $7,72,400