This article highlights some issues you should consider when you are planning to install commerce server 2007. This is not an installation guide and you can find both quick installation guide and full installation guide from Microsoft Commerce Server website.
Question 1: What are Our Choices?
When your organization ready to sell products online, the very first question is which technical solution is best for your business needs and also fit your budget. There are many options available today and they can be grouped into four major categories:
1. Custom Application development. When your business requirements are unique and your development team is strong, this option will give you the maximum flexibility for customization and future enhancement. Choose this option means you are confident about your development skills, project management capabilities, and other skills required for enterprise software development such as testing and requirement gathering.
2. Build from a platform. Commerce Server 2007, Able Commerce, and many other products are fit into this category. The advantages of this option is obviously you don’t need to write every line of code for common functionalities. The important issue is you will need to understand the platform and capable of customize/develop your solution on the platform. So before you commit to the solution proposal, you should consider to have a pilot project running such as the starter site from Commerce Server 2007.
3. Find a niche product. If you can find a niche software product that designed for your line of business that meet your needs, you can save a lot of time in software development and pick up the niche software to run your ecommerce site. If your business model is stable and your business requirements don’t change frequently, this can be a good option. Otherwise, you need to consider how you can handle the enhancements and changes.
4. Outsource. There are many websites and software companies offers a wide array of packages to choose from, they can host your ecommerce site, give your administration portal to upload new products, allow you to customize the site so it looks like your own website, and link to payment processing systems. For a business that wants to get their store up and running quickly without a lot of investment in software development, this can be an attractive option.
So when your boss ask you to setup and run your ecommerce store, you can present him/her with your options. The option you choose should be best fit for your organization after consider all the factors. It is important to ask yourself these questions before installing Commerce Server.
Question 2: Quick Install or Full Install?
If you just want to test it out the capabilities of Commerce Server, I recommend you follow the quick installation guide (37 pages) instead of full installation guide (99 pages). From our experience, the quick installation guide not only simplifies your installation process, it also significantly reduces the time to get the pilot project up and running. Please consider these factors:
1. Most software developers don’t have days of time to setup a pilot project, therefore, it is best to get a pilot project running than trying to know many aspects of full installation.
2. Getting your pilot site running will help you gain experience and knowledge in full installation.
3. It is usually encouraging to get something working first and then further enhance your skills.
Question 3: What features do I need to install?
When you performing installation of Commerce Server 2007, it is important to evaluate your business needs and plan ahead. If your organization does a lot of business via direct mail, you should consider installing direct mailer during your installation. At some point time in the future, you may need to mail coupons or product catalogs to your customer. So plan ahead and evaluate what features you will need before installing Commerce Server.
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