Microsoft Commerce Server
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Microsoft Commerce Server is a Microsoft product for building e-commerce systems. It uses Microsoft .NET technology.
The latest release of the product is Commerce Server 2009. It was launched at the National Retail Federation (NRF) in New York in January 2009, with its official launch at the MIX09 event in Las Vegas in March 2009.
With its inaugural release in 2000, Commerce Server replaced Microsoft Site Server, expanding on the functionality of it and establishing a focus on e-commerce functionality (rather than concerning itself with document management or content metadata). It helps you to create e-commerce solutions and Web sites with high-performance, familiar tools that simplify setup, management, and administration tasks.
Microsoft Commerce Server 2009 provides a comprehensive solution for many business scenarios, including:
- Business-to-consumer (B2C) sales of tangible or digital goods or online service delivery.
- Business-to-business (B2B) scenarios, such as e-procurement and trading communities.
- B2X scenarios, combining Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B).
- Self service portals using catalogs, profiles, or content targeting for personalized information delivery.
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[edit] System Components
Commerce Server 2009, which became available on Microsoft's price list on April 1, 2009, introduced multi-channel awareness into the product, a new default site (running in Microsoft's SharePoint product) - including 30 new web parts and controls, and WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editing experiences for business people and site designers.
These key features were introduce through the new Commerce Foundation - a new abstraction layer which unifies calling patterns of the core systems (see below) and allows for different presentation and business logic to be easily added and represented as 'selling channels'; and SharePoint Commerce Services which includes integration with Microsoft SharePoint - a new defeault site with 30 new web parts and controls pre-assembled. The default site can be easily skinned through the new page templating technology, allowing for individual pages to be easily changed by selecting a different template.
Commerce Server still retains its core systems of Catalog, Inventory, Orders, Profiles, and Marketing (discussed below).
[edit] Orders & Inventory
The Orders & Inventory system is responsible for tracking orders made by customers. Commerce Server can link with external systems that track inventory for a business so that inventory information is kept up-to-date and communicate with the appropriate parties when inventory runs low to indicate that it's time for new stock to be ordered. Business users are able to determine what "low" is through an easy-to-use management tool which lets them set inventory thresholds and get reports on product sales according to whatever metrics are desired (thanks to Microsoft SQL Server Analytics).
[edit] Catalog
Products themselves can be described in virtually every way using the Catalog system. No matter their shape, size, colour, odor, or disposition, products, the categories they belong to and relationships with other products are tracked by Commerce Server A sophisticated and configurable metadata system makes sure Commerce Server can address any kind of merchant scenario, be the business big or small.
[edit] Marketing
Managing promotions on a website can become a task unto itself, but Commerce Server addresses this growing web-trend by distilling the index operations associated with online advertising into a finite collection of functions. These let the business user manage ads and set rules that determine the conditions under which specific ads appear. Whether it's to boost sales on items that aren't meeting required sales thresholds or to sell certain products to customers who've shown an interest in a particular kind of item, the Marketing system can be quickly molded into a powerful tool to enhance your online business.
[edit] Profile
Almost every commercial website today makes some effort to personalize the content for the individual shopper. Commerce Server 2007 delivers a means to do more than let the user pick the background color of the webpage; Commerce Server's Profile system can do everything from tracking a shopper's product preferences, to tailoring the website presentation for the individual user, to making the job of keeping in touch with customers easy. The Profile system is ultimately responsible for making sure each shopper comes back again and again.
[edit] Other Components
Commerce Server also comes bundled with Data Warehouse Analytics, which offer sophisticated reporting functionality (dependent on the availability of Microsoft SQL Server Analytics module) in addition to the Commerce Server Staging (CSS) system. The Staging functionality automates the deployment of both dynamic and active content across a network infrastructure and can accommodate a wide variety of network configurations. (Some have remarked that the speed of CSS deployments is perhaps the most note-worthy aspect of this component.) Commerce Server also comes with BizTalk adaptors, which allow for easy integration with Microsoft BizTalk for enterprise data manipulation - excellent for integration with ERP systems within the enterprise.
[edit] Related Technologies
Commerce Server 2009 requires the presence of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or later. Commerce Server also can leverage a number of other Microsoft server products, including BizTalk Server 2006 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).
Commerce Server 2009 relies on components that are themselves dependent on the presence of the .NET Framework 3.5 and Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM). Recommended deployments are confined to Windows Server 2003 or higher.
[edit] Commerce Server and Cactus Commerce
In August of 2007, Cactus Commerce signed an agreement with Microsoft Corporation to drive product development, partner ecosystem development, marketing, services and support of the Microsoft® Commerce Server platform. The long-term strategic partnership reinforces both companies’ continued focus, investment and commitment to lead innovation for the e-commerce marketplace on a global scale. Together, as part of a long-term technology roadmap, the companies will jointly deliver platform enhancements and complementary solution accelerators focused on technology and industry deployment scenarios.
[edit] Future Development
The Commerce Server Product Unit has planned to have periodic releases of the product over the next 5 years. The next planned release of Commerce Server is targeted for the 2010 time frame.
[edit] Versions for Windows
- 2000 - Commerce Server 2000
- 2002 - Commerce Server 2002
- Service Pack 1
- Service Pack 2 (2003)
- Service Pack 3 (2004)
- Service Pack 4 (2006)
- 2007 - Commerce Server 2007
- Service Pack 1 (2008)
- Service Pack 2 (2008)
- 2009 - Commerce Server 2009
