Building Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 Solutions

Target Audience
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to develop and deploy a Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 solution. It is primarily intended for application developers who need to build e-commerce solutions with Commerce Server 2002.

Pre-Requisites
Before attending this course, students must have the following pre-requisites:Knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework.Knowledge of ASP.NET.An understanding of what commerce-driven Web sites should achieve for enterprises and business users.

Purpose
After completing the course, students will be able to describe the basic features of Commerce Server 2002; understand the Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 approach for building e-commerce Web sites; work with Commerce Server 2002 tools; describe the integration of Commerce Server 2002 with Microsoft .NET; work with and extend the Profile system of Commerce Server; authenticate users of the Commerce Server Web sites; design and implement product catalogs; build a complete checkout process for shoppers; describe the analysis features provided by Commerce Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Analysis Services; work with existing reports, and create new reports for use by business analysts; apply data mining models to Commerce Server site data; describe the content selection and targeting system of Commerce Server; implement Commerce Server campaigns; extend the Commerce Server business desk; build multilingual Commerce Web sites.

Course outline

1. Introducing Commerce Server 2002
2. Introduction to E-Commerce Web Sites
3. The Commerce Server 2002 Approach for Building E-Commerce Web Sites
4. Working with Commerce Server 2002 Tools
5. Commerce Server in a .NET World
6. Extending the Profile System
7. User Identification and Authentication
8. Commerce Server Catalog System
9. Implementing the Basket and Order Pipelines
10. Business Analytics System Overview
11. Analysis and Reporting
12. Working with Predictor
13. Introduction to the Targeting System
14. Commerce Server Discounts and Campaigns
15. Extending the Business Desk
16. Commerce Server Going Global

Module 1:Introducing Commerce Server 2002

• Commerce Server 2002 Placement
• Commerce Server 2002 Themes and Features
• Commerce Server 2002 Anatomy
• Windows Server 2003 Support

• Describe the placement of Commerce Server 2002.
  
• List the features of Commerce Server 2002.
  
• Understand the support provided by Microsoft Windows Server 2003 for Commerce Server 2002.
  

Module 2:Introduction to E-Commerce Web Sites

• Characteristics of E-Commerce Sites
• Overview of E-Commerce Site Functionality

• Describe typical characteristics of modern e-commerce sites.
  
• Describe typical functionality of modern e-commerce sites.
  

Module 3:The Commerce Server 2002 Approach for Building E-Commerce Web Sites

• Introduction to the Retail2002 Site
• Features of the Retail2002 Site
• Lab: Adding Data to the Site
• Lab: Exploring the Retail 2002 Site
• Lab: Shopping the Site

• Install the Retail2002 site and explain its purpose.
  
• Describe the main features of the Retail2002 site.
  

Module 4:Working with Commerce Server 2002 Tools

• Development and Business Tools
• Administration Tools
• Lab: Exploring Site Structure with Internet Information Services.
• Lab: Exploring Application Design with Visual Studio .NET
• Lab: Exploring Configuration Settings with Commerce Server Manager

• Describe and use the development and business tools that Commerce Server 2002 provides.
  
• Describe and use the administrative tools that Commerce Server 2002 provides.
  

Module 5:Commerce Server in a .NET World

• Big Bets on .NET
• Commerce Server and the .NET Framework
• Commerce Server Architecture
• Lab: Creating a Commerce Server 2002 Site with Visual Studio .NET

• Describe the benefits of integrating Commerce Server 2002 and the .NET Application Framework.
  
• Describe the .NET Application Framework and Commerce Server 2002.
  
• Describe the Commerce Server architecture.
  

Module 6:Extending the Profile System

• Profiling System Overview
• Profiling System Administration
• Profiling System Object Model
• Lab: Implementing User Management

• Describe the setup of the Profiling System.
  
• Describe the administration of the Profiling System.
  
• Explain the architecture of the Profiling System.
  
• Describe the Profiling System object model.
  

Module 7:User Identification and Authentication

• Authentication Components
• Custom Authentication
• .NET Enhancements for Authentication
• Authentication .NET Object Model
• Commerce Authentication Module
• Lab: Creating Logon, Logoff and Registration Pages

• · Describe the authentication components.
  
• · Describe Microsoft Windows authentication.
  
• Describe custom authentication.
  
• Manage authentication resources.
  
• Describe single logon access across domains.
  
• Describe the Microsoft .NET enhancements for authentication.
  
• Describe the Commerce Authentication Module.
  

Module 8:Commerce Server Catalog System

• Product Catalog System
• Catalog Variations
• B2B: Catalog Exchange and Import/Export
• Catalog Management API
• Lab: Implementing Catalogs and Products

• Describe the Product Catalog System.
  
• Describe multilingual catalogs.
  
• Describe catalog variations.
  
• Describe catalog searching.
  
• Understand the catalog management user interface (UI).
  
• Describe B2B catalog exchange and import/export.
  
• Understand the components of the catalog software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface (API).
  
• Describe third-party catalogs.
  

Module 9:Implementing the Basket and Order Pipelines

• Baskets
• Pipelines
• Lab: Implementing the Checkout Process

• Implement baskets.
  
• Configure pipelines for Microsoft ASP.NET.
  
• Debug pipeline components.
  

Module 10:Business Analytics System Overview

• Applying Business Analytics to E-Business
• E-Business Information Challenges
• Closing the Loop
• Release Themes
• Analysis Architecture
• Overview of Analysis Reports
• Overview of Data Mining
• Overview of Predictor
• Overview of Targeting

• · Describe the business needs that enterprises have for scalable, comprehensive business analysis tools that can be used with their commerce sites.
  
• · Describe how the major features of the business analytics system, provided by Microsoft Commerce Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Analysis Services, work together to provide a comprehensive analysis tool set.
  
• Describe the different types of reports available with Commerce Server 2002.
  
• Describe the different types of data-mining models available with Analysis Services.
  
• Describe how the Predictor resource analyzes Commerce Server data.
  
• Describe the targeting features of Commerce Server, and how they can be used to provide full closed-loop analysis.
  

Module 11:Analysis and Reporting

• Analysis Features
• Report Types
• Reporting Extensibility
• Enabling Report Preparation-DTS Processing
• Data Warehouse Extensibility
• Commerce Server Event Structure
• Logging Commerce Server Events
• Lab: Creating Reports

• Describe the different report types supported by Commerce Server 2002.
  
• Create new reports and modify existing ones.
  
• Run Data Transaction Services (DTS) tasks for report preparation.
  
• Extend the Data Warehouse.
  
• Log Commerce Server events.
  

Module 12:Working with Predictor

• Business Questions
• Technical Challenges
• Solution: Data Mining
• Data Mining Models
• Using Predictor
• Building Models
• Deploying Models
• Predictor Tutorial

• Understand the business issues that give rise to the need for data-mining with commerce data.
  
• Understand the technical challenges involved in applying data-mining techniques.
  
• Understand how data-mining provides solutions to business problems.
  
• Describe the various data-mining models provided by Analysis Services and Commerce Server.
  
• Use the Predictor resource.
  
• Build, view, and deploy data-mining models.
  

Module 13:Introduction to the Targeting System

• Commerce Server Targeting
• Targeting System
• Content Selection Framework
• Expression Builder
• Direct Marketing

• Describe the Targeting System.
  
• Describe the Content Select Framework (CSF).
  
• Describe the List Manager.
  
• Describe the Expression Builder.
  
• Describe Direct Marketing.
  

Module 14:Commerce Server Discounts and Campaigns

• Campaign Manager Features
• Discounts and Merchandising
• Reuse Policies
• Discount SDK Samples
• Lab: Implementing Campaigns

• Describe the Business Desk Campaign Manager module.
  
• Describe discount conditions and awards.
  
• Describe the interactions between discounts.
  
• Describe reuse policies.
  
• Describe how item-level discounts, order-level discounts, and shipping discounts work.
  
• Describe auditing of discounts.
  
• Describe the high availability enhancements to Direct Mailer.
  

Module 15:Extending the Business Desk

• Introduction to the Business Desk
• Task Button Configuration
• Special Tasks
• Shared UI Routines
• Rich UI Widgets
• Security
• Lab: Extending the Business Desk

• Describe how the Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 Business Desk functions.
  
• Create your own Business Desk Modules.
  
• Describe the security architecture employed by Business Desk.
  

Module 16:Commerce Server Going Global

• Infrastructure Improvements
• International Features of the Catalog System
• International Features of the Marketing System
• International Features of Order Processing
• International Features of the Data Warehouse and Analysis Components
• Multilingual Deployment
• SDK Sitelets
• Lab: Implementing Multilingual Commerce Sites

• Describe the infrastructure improvements in Microsoft Commerce Server 2002 to support international sites.
  
• Describe international features of the Catalog system.
  
• Describe international features of the Marketing system.
  
• Describe international features of order processing.
  
• Describe international features of the data warehouse and analysis components.
  
• Describe dynamic site localization.
  
• Describe international site configuration.
  
• Describe multilingual deployment.
  
• Describe the SDK sitelets and their international features.