ABC for Trade and Industry has been the market leader in the Netherlands for Business-to-Business information for more than 40 years. West was asked to help ABC retain this lead via the Internet as well. ABC had previously only published a number of company information guides in book form and on CD-ROM.
| Market: | Industry |
|---|---|
| Technology: | Oracle, PL/SQL |
| Brochure: |  |
In order to maintain its strong market position, ABC recognised the need to serve the Internet market with its own website; especially because almost all the prominent Dutch exporters now have a web presence. ABC expected a lot of traffic on its site and thus wanted to boost its advertising revenues.
ABC asked West to create such an application. Owing to the desired functionality and ABC's existing infrastructure, this was a challenging project. Users can now go online to select information from the "Holland Exports" guide.
West implemented an Oracle Internet link at an price agreed in advance. This enabled West to guarantee ABC strict budget management. The development and implementation of the project were also carried out in accordance with the requirements and preferences of ABC, by the agreed delivery date and at the quality level required by ABC.
West implemented the project using a precise, phased project approach. The start of the project was marked by the drawing up of a Software Specification Document (SSD). This enabled ABC's requirements and preferences to be translated into fixed agreements for a powerful software solution with clear functionality. The following phases were completed structurally on the basis of the SSD. An SSD provides clarity and certainty. It gave the client control and made the project more efficient and cost-effective.
The web server (and database) connected to the Internet is completely separate from the production database. This creates important advantages as far as security and speed are concerned. In order to keep the web server updated, updates from the production database are fully automised. West developed export and import modules for this purpose.
The application was created using Oracle 7 (Oracle 6 for the production system) and the Internet functionality was realised with the aid of an Oracle web server and PL/SQL. West also wrote a number of tools that enable ABC to independently change the lay-out of web pages. The entire development was executed in-house in Delft. ABC performed regular tests via the Internet, which allowed them to be closely involved in the final result. Once finished, West delivered the comprehensively documented project to ABC.
The system's functions are powerful and simple to use. Visitors can use various different search structures on the ABC pages. These are also used to administer the search and log modules developed by West, which select and present the information. The advertisements are a unique aspect of this application; they appear depending on the information being displayed. The system logs the number of times an advertisement is shown.