Cart of the Week: eCommerce Framework, by Mediachase
Sensible eCommerce counts over 300 completely different purchasing cart methods. On this weekly “Cart of the Week” function, we profile a selected cart, asking the cart’s house owners and customers about its strengths and weaknesses.
Right here we profile the ASP.NET eCommerce Framework (ECF) by Mediachase. The Los Angeles-based firm affords an software platform with accessible supply code for retailers and builders. We requested Mediachase consultant Peter Yeung to elucidate the advantages of his firm’s cart. We then requested Aggressive Computing Follow Supervisor Jeff Pratt, whose firm makes use of the platform to develop ecommerce options for shoppers, for his analysis.
PeC: Please present some normal background on the cart.
Yeung: “Our product is much less of a cart and extra of a strategic commerce platform for launching a number of sorts of commerce options that require completely different sorts of integration wants. The present model is 5.0, or eCommerce Framework Technology 5. ECF G5 supplies for complete assist of the event life cycle from planning via deployment. Operations and licensing are structured round offering our clients with the supply code license for any variety of builders inside a corporation and deployment licensing for manufacturing cases.”
“On the whole, there are two varieties of organizations that buy and profit from the ECF. The primary are service corporations that present end-to-end options for finish clients and organizations. These corporations buy the ECF to supply a typical base of code to unravel completely different sorts of commerce challenges for a number of shoppers. The second sort of buyer is finish clients with IT organizations who need to have the ability to absolutely management and differentiate their commerce answer based mostly on their very own distinctive wants, current infrastructures and third get together merchandise they want to add to their infrastructure.”
PeC: What are the cart’s greatest strengths?
Yeung: “The largest power of the ECF is that it has been designed to assist cross-discipline enterprise and know-how groups with a aim of creating a scalable commerce infrastructure that may be tailored over an prolonged lifetime with out limitations.”
“That is achieved via a loosely coupled finest practices and .NET structure that may be unified or separated based mostly on the style through which you want or wish to deploy your answer. For instance, you should use the ECF in its entirety as a base for working and working a whole multi-site, multi-language business-to-consumer retailer for smaller mid-market companies, otherwise you might be an enterprise that’s on the lookout for a greater order administration or purchasing cart and easily use these facets of the ECF.”
“From a purchasing cart perspective we provide quick Lucene-based looking out, filtering and narrowing. It’s applied in such a method you can select to simply substitute it with different approaches, customized code or third get together merchandise like Netopia, Coveo or Mercado.”
PeC: What are a few of its weaknesses?
Yeung: “Our present weaknesses is our means to speak and clarify the character of the ECF and to raised clarify the worth of the structure and philosophy of the product. As a result of now we have chosen the philosophy of enabling the client to have extra management, now we have far more work to do to simplify some facets of the product and to enhance the detailed documentation and instance conditions the place the tip buyer can extra clearly visualize the worth.”
“[Also,] we don’t present out of the field connectors or adapters to the entire methods that individuals ask us for. It’s a heavy burden and we’re beginning to think about sure market-leading platforms as areas we wish to do higher at delivering extra ready-to-go instruments and samples.”
PeC: What plans to you might have for future cart growth?
Yeung: “We’re at the moment focusing our efforts on bettering 4 main areas of ECF to raised serve the completely different sorts of sources who work on the implementation and operation of commerce options.”
“The primary is improved content material administration and asset administration developments. We’re investing in additional selections and middleware for again workplace integration. We’re actually trying to provide a clearer integration context that makes use of a service bus or messaging middleware paradigm with connectors to a few of the extra requested platforms. We’re additionally engaged on including and enhancing options now we have in areas like cloud computing and social networking/commerce, enterprise intelligence and personalization. Lastly, we proceed to push our personal know-how base and core applied sciences. Our promotions engine is shifting to a full-fledged expressions editor that can present flexibility for merchandising and gross sales.”
PeC: How particularly would utilizing eCommerce Framework enhance a service provider’s enterprise?
Yeung: “ECF particularly improves a service provider’s enterprise via the inherit advantages of the framework itself and the meeting mannequin it helps. Lots of people say they’ll combine into different methods, ERPs [enterprise resource planning], legacy knowledge system, CRMs [customer relationship management], and CMSs [content management system], however the sincere reality is that ECF permits enterprise to decide on one of the best of enterprise and operational software program and pair it with probably the most versatile, extensible and scalable commerce answer accessible. If you must change your ERP from a middle-tier to an enterprise-level answer, your ECF platform helps that adaptation with you. If you must transfer your internet hosting right into a cloud setting, your ECF platform helps that shift and grows with you. In case you want a multi-site, multi-channel, multi-language, multi-currency answer, your ECF platform allows that for you from the bottom up.”
PeC: Some other ideas for our readers?
Yeung: “ECF is basically designed for the retailers, organizations and integrators who look past a purchasing cart to a extra related and re-usable platform to leverage and lengthen within the methods they want with out compromise.”
A Buyer’s View
Jeff Pratt has expertise utilizing Mediachase’s eCommerce Framework as observe supervisor for Aggressive Computing (C2), a Vermont-based consulting and customized growth agency. Right here is Pratt’s analysis of the platform.
PeC: What are Mediachase’s greatest strengths?
Pratt: “C2 views the strengths of Mediachase falling into three predominant areas. It’s a well-architected .Internet platform. In our expertise, one dimension doesn’t match all, and customized work will at all times be required. Integration to back-end methods and different supporting purposes is crucial, and Mediachase has performed a wonderful job in designing a platform that facilitates this central function for our core ecommerce platform.”
“Mediachase additionally affords an accessible code base and inclusive enterprise mannequin. You simply can’t beat having open entry to all of the code and the architect and design workforce ought to questions or points come up throughout our growth efforts.”
“Trade focus and a partner-development mannequin that retains the platform in-sync with present market calls for for options and performance. As with all know-how pushed effort as of late, the one factor we all know for positive is that our options can be outdated inside months of deployment. Mediachase employs a platform code growth mannequin of fixed enchancment and updating to the core code base.”
PeC: What are a few of its weaknesses?
Pratt: “We don’t actually determine too many weaknesses within the Mediachase platform as a result of Mediachase’s function of their enterprise mannequin is to not present particular options however to assist corporations, like C2, within the accelerated growth of options. Preliminary experiences had us wishing for extra documentation and different reference answer suppliers, however each of these had been in brief provide since we had been among the many first companions to launch with ECF G5. Each areas have been considerably improved.”
PeC: How particularly would utilizing Mediachase enhance a service provider’s enterprise?
Pratt: “Mediachase supplies a base commerce platform that may be applied in a variety of alternative ways by their answer companions. In our case, the C2/Mediachase answer addresses the checklist of options and integration factors of most industry-leading websites.”
“With many commerce platforms based mostly on proprietary software program and inaccessible code and platform structure, retailers typically have discovered themselves hostage to these growth corporations when it comes time to carry out web site enhancements, launch new websites, assist new channels or in any other case lengthen the core platform. The C2 strategy to the deployment of our Mediachase options embraces no matter stage of in-house technical experience they might have. As soon as the positioning is launched, it is extremely typically an in-house .NET growth workers that tweaks and enhances that core web site.”
PeC: Do you intend to proceed utilizing Mediachase? Why or why not?
Pratt: “Sure. C2 has invested closely within the relationship with Mediachase and our positioning of its ECF V5 platform inside our go-forward commerce technique. We relate effectively to the technical integrity of the ECF V5 platform and the open and sincere Mediachase administration.”
PeC: Some other ideas on purchasing carts for our readers?
Pratt: “We regularly encounter companies trying to substitute a platform as a result of the efficiency, integration capability or extendibility simply aren’t there, regardless that a selected function set was delivered. In case you are critical about rising your on-line enterprise, assume past the checklist of options and think about these extra strategic facets of the on-going enterprise relationship together with your platform vendor. Think about the enterprise mannequin and market place of the commerce firm you choose, and ensure that you’re aligned for the long term.”
Different ECF Websites
- Aperionaudio.com
- Firstact.com
- FIFA.com
