Analysis Essay on eBay As an Information System

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This article will provide various topics regarding eBay as an information system. eBay is a very large corporation and has various levels in it that will be analyzed to the best knowledge. Topics covered will include approaches of the company on a Server-Side. This will include both hardware and software requirements for which eBay uses to operate. The next topic of analysis will include the software and hardware requirements that are necessary from the viewpoint of a client (or user) of the information system being discussed for this article. Overall, eBay is a very vast organization which keeps a lot of their operational information away from the public so some educational assumptions will be made. Regarding the lack of server-side information, some may also be slightly dated since it is the only available source to be looked at.

Server-Side Hardware Requirements

First and foremost, from researching eBay has a vast network of various technologies it utilizes hardware-wise. There was very little public information regarding the actual hardware requirements that eBay utilizes to operate. That being stated it can be assumed that this giant is currently using cloud-based systems and physical servers. eBay is taking large steps in changing its infrastructure with hardware and it ranges from building data centers, and server design. (Knorr, 2016) Of course, the most important hardware eBay is using is its physical servers since they are necessary backbones to any information system on the scale of this company. As stated above since eBay actually is creating it’s own server design it is hard to say specifically what type of servers they are utilizing hardware-wise. It can be assumed that the company is using rack-servers due to cost-effectiveness and size. Again, based on speculation these said rack-servers are most likely in server farms throughout the country and maybe even supported by third party companies in data centers. It is assumed that the company utilizes file servers, web servers, cloud-based servers, and various other servers to support all the operating systems of users and employees. It can also be assumed that the company has various backup servers for both files and web in case an emergency happens. On eBay’s scale, there are probably data centers that are solely responsible for backup if something were to occur.

Server-Side Software Requirements

eBay is currently utilizing OpenStack and Apache Kylin as software. (Knorr, 2016) From the readings it appears that Kylin is in-house software system created by eBay itself. Kylin provides SQL interfaces and OLAP. The company is also using Hadoop infrastructure utilizing things like Storm, Kafka, Spark, and even JavaScript tools RaptorJS. (Knorr,2016) The company appears to use a large amount of in-house software server-side. This is also probably required so the information system can perform some more complex tasks and take into consideration the almost insurmountable combinations of data needed daily. It should be noted that all the programs mentioned above are open source based. Based on the articles read one can surmise that a lot of this software is custom-tailored for eBay itself. It should also be noted that eBay is one of the largest users of OpenStack in the world. (Knorr, 2016) OpenStack is a cloud operating system software. Storm is most likely used to store data input of the system. Additionally, Kafka is probably used for the actual data traffic. Spark on the other hand appears to be used for data processing itself and to work synonymously with Kylin and SQL. It can be deduced that there are probably even more required and necessary software being used by eBay to support its information system.

Client-Side Hardware Requirements

On the client-side, there are several ways to access the information system provided for eBay. Some examples of hardware devices that can access eBay are tablets, desktops, laptops, and smartphones. There are no websites that could be found that specify the minimum requirements hardware-wise to access eBay. Based on this it can be assumed that in order to access the eBay website, one must have the minimum hardware requirements for a web browser. For this example, Google Chrome will be used as a benchmark for minimum software required. For Windows to run Google Chrome it must be equipped with a Pentium 4 processor or higher post 2001, have 100 mb of hard drive space, 128 MB RAM. (Decker, 2016). The Hardware requirements for Macintosh and Linux are very similar. For Macintosh chrome will only run on post 2006 intel powered macs with 100 MB of hard disk space and 128 MB of RAM as well. (Decker, 2016) The same RAM and hard disk space requirements are for Linux as well, however, Linux can run as old as a Pentium 3 processor. Overall, most people with technology can access the eBay website. In terms of required tablet and smartphone software, it was much harder to find minimum requirements for the eBay app. It can be assumed that the devices must have the hardware required to keep up with the most recent updates to the stores they are accessed by. And the hardware if accessing the website browser-wise meets or exceeds that of the minimum computer hardware requirements. Other than mentioned above there are no other extra hardware requirements outside to access the information system.

Client-Side Software Requirements

There are several required minimal software requirements client-wise to access eBay’s information system by website. This will be based on using a Google Chrome browser. It can be assumed that other web browsers will also have requirements close to this benchmark browser. For Windows, the oldest supported software is Windows XP with Service Pack 2. (Decker, 2016). For a computer running Macintosh, the minimum required operating system is X version 10.5.6 which dates from 2009. (Decker, 2016) And finally, for Linux, the minimum requirements are most distributions from 2010 and onwards. (Decker, 2016) In terms of access the information system via smartphone or tablet the required operating system will be whatever is the bare minimum to be able to access the companies app store and have the most usable up-to-date form of the application. In terms of web browsers, almost all current web browsers can access eBay’s website. No other special software is required to run the website outside of having a web browser. The two ways to access this information system on a client-side are from said website or application via smartphone or tablet.

Competitive Analysis of the System

This information system both gives a competitive advantage to those who use it and as well to the parent company that utilizes it. The overall purpose of eBay is to provide a seamless way to buy and sell goods via online. This information system as mentioned above is very tech driven and utilizes this technology to stay in competition with other companies. A good example is eBay using OpenStack technologies. Other large companies such as Facebook and Amazon also utilize such technologies within their own infrastructures. One thing that eBay does to also stay competitive is to make sure its interfaces on a client side are easy to use for buying and selling items. The one factor that keeps eBay ahead of its competition is continuing to have a simple seamless system. The easier it is for the client to be able to buy or sell items the more people that will continue to grow the company. Another small while necessary part of this information system to keep it competitive is having a smartphone and tablet app. This allows users to access their eBay accounts anywhere via cloud technology. Keeping the app up to date and easy to use adds into the part of helping maintain an edge over competition. From personal observations it seems two large competitors to eBay is Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. However, both competitors are focusing more on a local market versus the much larger scale eBay provides for clientele. eBay overall must stay with a competitive edge because if it doesn’t then it will cease to exist. Overall, this information system is important to eBay because without it there would not be an eBay. This company also ahs to compete with Amazon and internationally with websites like Ali-Express. Luckily since vendors can set their own price via this information system it also creates a competitive edge to others since eBay will always get a cut from sellers no matter how the market runs versus competitors who work with more set values. This is also another reason eBay must stay competitive with it’s software so vendors and buyers will continue to use them.

Recommendations for Improving the System

The first recommendation for improving the system would be coding a more practical and straightforward way to sign into your account. While the log in section is available on the home page it is in a very inconvenient location. The company should probably create a prompt to log in or create an account via Java etc. for the user when they initially access the website. This may also be to help “lure new users into looking and not being forced to provide information to access content. Overall, the log in interface seems much more clunky than the rest of the website and updating the code and “login interface” could help with those who have issues seeing smaller text and to help prevent frustration in hunting down a small sign in button.

The next recommendation is that eBay program in an instant messenger-based client to their interface. A large complaint with the overall system is that communication can become significantly slower between buyer and seller with the current message system utilized by the company. The system right now works more like an email system with inboxes. An instant messenger program within the user interface would significantly speed up communication time and potentially speed buying processes for items between buyers and sellers. It will also give a competitive edge against things like Facebook marketplace since Facebook is already taking full advantage of the ability to utilize its instant messaging system. Overall there is almost no negative impact of adding this to the information system since communication becomes easier between buy and seller.

The last recommendation is a revamp to the home page design. Right now, the overall homepage is disorganized and layered with large amounts of recommended and recently viewed items. The overall home page interface is taking a shotgun approach and dropping as many categories for items to buy than necessary. Compared to amazon the interface is much more forced with items. Another addition to upgrading the home page layout and coding is potentially upgrading the AI technology for said search histories and items recommended to look at/buy. Right now, the technology seems inferior to that which Amazon is using. It appears if you search for something one time eBay will continue to bombard you with recommendations based on one search versus using algorithms to potentially order searches based on what is most likely searched versus what appears to be an easier approach of basing recommendations on most recent search. Overall these last two combined software aspects would significantly improve eBay’s traffic and create an even happier clientele base. eBay has strengths like having a “garage” for your vehicles to search for compatible parts but it needs to be laid out in a better manner or even have coding for each user that allows them to make a profile to customize their own home page for recommendations potentially.

Conclusion

At the end of the day like all things eBay has its shortcomings. However, the company continues to upgrade its information system to keep it actively competitive. It continues to leverage advantages of having very low hardware and software requirements to work. eBay places large amounts of time and money into continuing to upgrade its information system because the heart and soul of this company is the information system. Without this eBay would be added to the annals of time like companies like Blockbuster. With the amount of time and money eBay puts into its information system this is something not likely to be seen for quite some time.

References

Decker, F. (2016, October 26). Google Chrome Software Requirements. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/google-chrome-software-requirements-48820.html.
Knorr, E. (2016, March 7). What eBay looks like under the hood. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://www.infoworld.com/article/3041064/what-ebay-looks-like-under-the-hood.html.
Sverdlik, Y. (2018, September 7). eBay Designs Own Servers, Decentralizes Data Center Strategy. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/ebay/ebay-designs-own-servers-decentralizes-data-center-strategy.

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