| About InfoWorld : Advertise : Subscribe : Contact Us : Awards : Events : Store |
 |
||||
|
||||
 | ||||
 |
|
|||
 | ||||
|
|
|
||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 NEWSConvenient setup with AuctionBuilder 1.0 By Sandra Kay Miller, For InfoWorld Test Center August 4, 2000 SELLING ITEMS AT auction is not a recent concept. In fact, consumers have been active bidders and sellers in traditional auction houses for centuries. But now, with the explosion of the Internet, an entirely new medium for auctions and for buying and selling products has been born. Corporations that previously bought and sold merchandise via sales agents logging many travel miles are now jumping on the auction bandwagon.
One method for building your company's auction site is to use AuctionBuilder Enterprise 1.0, a complete in-house auction builder solution. With this product, midsize to large corporations can set up and administer business-to-business Web-based auctions efficiently. With AuctionBuilder Enterprise, companies that want to enter the auction marketplace can feasibly start offering clearinghouse-style auctions within days. Not only are AuctionBuilder's auctions an avenue for selling products, but they also provide a conduit for businesses to seek bids for their products. With suppliers coming to your auction site, new relationships can be forged with vendors previously unknown to you. In turn, online auctions drastically reduce the time it takes for your employees to research, price, and purchase materials. Creating an online auction with AuctionBuilder is an inexpensive venture. AuctionBuilder Enterprise 1.0 is priced at $9,995 for the basic software, which includes the ColdFusion Enterprise server and three auction halls -- specific sites where auctions are conducted. Compared to other auction-building applications such as Ariba Dynamic Trade, which starts at $100,000, AuctionBuilder is a bargain. However, unlike the high-end dynamic commerce solutions such as Moai LiveExchange and Siebel OpenSite, AuctionBuilder does not offer extensive professional services or administration and hosting services. However, AuctionBuilder should not be overlooked. In addition to conducting easy searches, AuctionBuilder supports multiple auction styles, open source code, and comprehensive features capable of handling high volumes of site traffic, earning it major points in my book. Despite the difficult installation, Version 1.0 garnered a Very Good score. In-house vs. outsourcing The most significant benefit to implementing AuctionBuilder in-house is the control your company can exercise over the application of the product. Having full access to the databases, source code, and operation of the auction is an advantage. Some hosting companies do not provide full access to the information housed in the database or allow access to the source code, taking control away from the company. The chief downside is that implementing AuctionBuilder may require purchasing hardware and hiring personnel dedicated to the administration and maintenance of the auction site. Depending on the volume of traffic, these costs will vary. Another issue to consider is the risk of your site going down. An outsourcing company may be better equipped to ensure the site remains live than will your in-house staff. However, for companies with an existing infrastructure that includes software and hardware, self-hosting is a sound solution. From Dutch to vickery Before I began building my auction hall, I needed to become familiar with the different auction types -- including high bid, Dutch, Yankee, sealed bid, and vickery -- and auction styles -- including reserve and private. Included with AuctionBuilder Enterprise are three auction templates: AbleAuction, BidMadness, and BidKingdom. If none of the templates suites your needs, the open source code can be modified to create new templates, but a proficiency in ColdFusion Markup Language is required. Installating the software was anything but easy. The ColdFusion server must be installed and set up before AuctionBuilder Enterprise. Furthermore,the software is compatible only with Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 3.0 and 4.0, Microsoft Personal Web Server, and Netscape FastTrack/Enterprise. The default option during the install was set for Microsoft Personal Web Server 4.0. Because I have a Domino Web Server, I had to manually add my Web server and all of the ColdFusion mappings, taking the better part of a day. Of the three templates, I found AbleAuction and BidMadness the most useful. AbleAuction applies more control over who has access to place products on the auction and therefore can facilitate clearinghouses quite well. BidMadness also has robust b-to-b applications as a supplier bidding system. Using reverse auctions, a company can apply this template to solicit bids from potential suppliers. In addition to offering auction templates, AuctionBuilder has a complete set of payment processes set up for each auction. For example, fees can be set up on a per-auction basis or as a subscription to sellers. Version 1.0 also includes commercial invoicing options such as calculated totals and real-time payment processing, making multiple purchases easier for purchasing management. Power for the administrator To begin building my auction hall, I first launched the browser-based auction-building application. AuctionBuilder operates with both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator Version 4.0 and later. After I had entered my database types and locations, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) settings, and URLs, I chose my auction template, BidMadness, from a drop-down menu. Clicking on my chosen template created an auction hall ready for users to register, search for items, and place bids. Despite Version 1.0's point-and-click interface for creating and managing auction halls, the administrator must be network, database, and Web savvy to use the product. Administrators must be familiar with ODBC databases for data and security sources, root locations, and at the same time, track and organize site destinations. A highly navigable, browser-based administration area can be accessed locally or remotely for administration and maintenance. An administrator can access built-in reports and statistics, which instantly show sales by customer, date, user statistics, and browser types. Detailed information about users and their bidding history also is readily available. A unique feature offered by AuctionBuilder is the administrative ability to approve submitted products before they go live. No other auction sites currently offer this feature, including eBay, OnSale, Moai, or OpenSite. This alleviates the possibility of items being offered on your auction site that are unacceptable or illegal. Overall, despite having the source code provided, future releases would be complemented by a more automated installation process. However, once installed, I found AuctionBuilder to be an inclusive product for rapidly building an online auction site. Well organized and graphically stylish, the interface needs no improvement. AuctionBuilder Enterprise is a very good start for building an in-house online auction. With the explosive growth of online auctions, AuctionBuilder provides a tool for companies to build dynamic and scalable auctions without the high price tag of other enterprise auction solutions. Version 1.0 will allow your company's sales forces to buy and sell products via the Web, cutting travel time drastically and saving money for the bottom line as well.  Related story Sold! on online auctions Sandra Kay Miller is a remote access specialist at Elixir Technologies and can be reached at sandra_kay_miller@elixir.com.
SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
SPONSORED LINKS
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
