MCA-225
e-Business Systems
Business conducted over the internet — commerce models and web tools, the security and cryptography that make it possible, payment systems, and online strategy.
- Semester
- Semester 3
- Credits
- 3
- Scheme
- 3 lectures a week
- Contact hours
- 40 across four units
- Category
- Core Elective - II
What the paper is
e-Business Systems is the paper about the machinery behind buying something online. It opens with the models — B2B, B2C, C2C and the value chains they imply — and then spends two units on what has to be true for any of them to work: that the connection is secure and that money can move.
Unit II is a compressed course in applied cryptography aimed squarely at commerce: threats, encryption, digital signatures and certificates, then HTTP, SSL, firewalls and PKI. If you are also taking Applied Cryptography the overlap is substantial and worth exploiting.
Unit III on electronic payment systems is the part with no equivalent anywhere else in the degree — types of payment system, electronic data interchange, infrastructure issues and electronic fund transfer — and it is examined in detail.
What to concentrate on
- The e-commerce models and revenue models are the framing for most long answers. Be able to name each, give a real example, and say how it makes money.
- In Unit II, focus on SSL/TLS and on what a digital certificate actually proves. “How is a secure connection established” is a standing question and the handshake is the answer.
- Electronic payment systems are asked comparatively — card, e-cash, e-wallet, EDI, EFT — on cost, anonymity, settlement and risk. One table covers the unit.
Syllabus, unit by unit
Summarised from the approved scheme. Hours are the contact hours the scheme allots, which is a fair guide to where the marks sit.
Unit I · Introduction to e-business
10 hours- Electronic business and electronic commerce; e-commerce models and types
- Value chains in electronic commerce; e-commerce in India
- The internet and World Wide Web, internet architectures and applications
- Web-based tools for electronic commerce; intranet, its composition, and extranet
- Comparison of ERP and web applications
Unit II · Security threats and cryptography
10 hours- Security overview, electronic commerce threats, data privacy issues
- Encryption, public key and private key cryptography
- Digital signatures and digital certificates, prominent cryptographic applications
- Security protocols over public networks: HTTP, SSL
- Firewalls as a security control and PKI for security
Unit III · Electronic payment systems
10 hours- The concept of money and electronic payment systems
- Types of electronic payment system
- Electronic data interchange
- Infrastructure issues in electronic payment systems; electronic fund transfer
Unit IV · Applications and strategies
10 hours- Business models and revenue models over the internet
- Emerging trends in e-business
- e-Governance and digital commerce
- Mobile commerce; strategies for online business models
How it is examined
- Question 1 is compulsory, covers the whole syllabus, and is made of objective or short-answer questions. It carries 12 marks.
- The rest of the paper is four units matching the four above. Each unit sets two questions and you attempt one, so there are four more answers at 12 marks each.
- Examiners are asked to map every question to a course outcome using Bloom's taxonomy, which is why questions are phrased as “apply”, “analyse” or “evaluate” rather than only “explain”.
The pass mark is 40 out of 100 in every paper.
Learning objectives
- e-business and its applications to information technology
- Security over the internet and data privacy issues
- Payment systems and e-business models
- Online strategies for e-business
Assumed beforehand
- Basics of computers
- Basics of online applications
- Business concepts
Paired in the scheme with MCA-265 Lab based on Core Elective II.
Books it is taught from
- TB1Gary P. Schneider and James T. Perry, “Electronic Commerce”, Thomson Learning, 1st edition, 2000
- TB2Kamlesh K. Bajaj and Debjani Nag, “E-Commerce: The Cutting Edge of Business”, Tata McGraw Hill, 1st edition, 1999
- TB3William Stallings, “Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice”, Prentice Hall, 4th edition, 2005
Notes for MCA-225
Lecture notes, question papers and assignments filed against MCA-225 are in the library. Everything there has been checked by a moderator before it appears, and an account is free — new ones are approved by hand, which is what keeps the shelf clean.