Minister's Forerword
Introduction
Credits
Acknowledgements
Marconi Communications
PROJECT OBJECTIVE
SITE SERVICE ON MANAGEMENT DESTINATION
Marconi Communications (formerly FORE Systems)) is a leading global supplier of multiservice networking solutions. The company specialises in providing a flexible, scalable and resilient foundation for building a communications network that lasts - Networks of Steel. The company’s Intelligent Infrastructure also ensures that a customer is not required to constantly redesign their network when adding users, applications or bandwidth.
Business Case for eCommerce Infrastructure Project
Marconi Communications believe the seamless interaction with the end customer through electronic commerce is crucial in the current telecommunications industry. The company sees the seamless integration of sound, data and video into a website as the ideal way of producing a product showcase on-line. The company identified the opportunity to create a portal website on Network Management; this web-enabled extranet would allow the company’s customers to access a virtual showcase of it products in their own time, gaining as much value at a minimal cost as if they were attending an actual trade show.
E-Business Solution
Marconi has now developed a prototype of its multimedia "virtual enterprise". The company has targeted two key areas in this offering, namely the pre- and post-sales support functions and after sales service.
The objective of the virtual showcase is to convey the marketing message, convince the visitor to evaluate and to visit again. The prototype showcases Service on Foundation, one of the company’s network management products, previously demonstrated at trade shows. The virtual showcase visitor enters a virtual Network Operations Centre (NOC) and the virtual reality journey begins. The visitor contributes to the effect of the experience by first completing information about their network. The showcase is designed in a way that allows for an intuitive two-way conversation style built into the visit. For example, a visitor might be invited to ‘configure the network’ facility within the software and this would be followed by a simulated interactive ‘configuration’ activity delivered in a tutorial style.
The second part of the project is an after sales service in the form of an order fulfilment and monitoring web applications. Active Server pages are used to connect an intranet page to an Oracle database so those customers can check and verify their shipments. There will also be functionality built in to this application to link a shipment’s tracking reference to the actual freight forwarder’s web page.
Who will benefit from this e-Commerce Infrastructure Development?
Organisations increasingly view managed networks as commodities and the trend to outsource this service is expected to increase. Marconi’s managed network products are scaleable, making its pay-as-you-grow business model accessible to companies of all sizes. Telecommunications companies and companies of all sizes stand to benefit from the development of the virtual showcase.
Marconi Communications
100 upper George’s Street
Dun Laoire
Co.Dublin
Tel: + 353 1 2804533
www.marconi.com
irene.mcgoey@marconi.com