Dun & Bradstreet supplies business insight information to many thousands of customers in Australia and overseas each year. Over the past 100 years, D&B has constantly looked for improved methods of information access, storage and dissemination.

Recently (since the late 1980’s), effective information dissemination has been the most challenging barrier for D&B. Customers are now demanding business insight information delivered electronically, often directly imbedded into their own business systems, and all within seconds of the original request.

The very recent developments of Internet Technologies offered to D&B customers via the D&B Extranet and Intranet, have provided D&B a unique opportunity to support the needs of all customer segments (both external & internal) in their access and dissemination requirements, irrespective of their business and technology platform.

D&B is now able to provide a level of information access, and therefore customer service, unparalleled in our 100 plus year history.

With the new found freedom and unilateral access come a number of challenges that need to be carefully addressed to ensure the validity, security and resultant success of this new access vehicle. These include:

• Structure
• Offerings
• Standards
• Security
• RIO

This paper will review D&B’s approach to this new e-commerce world, looking at it from the perspective of both the internal and external customer.

Over the past 100 years, D&B in Australia has provided business insight information via the most effective access & delivery system of the day. From hand-written paper in the late 1800’s to the first on-line access system in the 1980’s, D&B was able to supply information to its customers as effectively as possible.

However, from around the mid 1980’s through to the early 1990’s, a shift away from D&B access "standards" was emerging from within the D&B customer community. Technology played a larger role in how information was accessed and used. By the mid 1990’s, there was no single technology platform that all customers could/would use to access D&B.

To combat this, D&B developed a number of systems for access & dissemination, including three proprietary software applications each offering on-line information. These were:

• 3270 Terminal Access
• DOS based modem dial-up
• Microsoft Windows® modem dial-up

Each of these systems were used by a different sub-set of customers. Internal Customers (within the operating divisions of D&B) would use the 3270 Terminal Access system. Our external customers would use either the DOS or Windows® based system, depending on their technical infrastructure.

Within the various user groups, different needs were emerging that took each of these access systems into different functional directions. As an example, internal users running from the 3270 terminals had a distinct ‘look-and-feel’ difference to external customers running under DOS or Windows ®.

Software to support these systems was expensive to maintain, as the varying functionality required additional specific development. This development could not be easily transported from one system to another due to the inherent platform differences.

In addition to these problems, D&B were unable to provide support to a vast array of customers whose technology profile did not match to one of the available access channels.

Overall, D&B was faced with a major challenge - customers wanted to electronically interact with D&B in many varying ways, yet D&B was only able to offer limited methods.

A uniform access and dissemination channel was required to re-establish the D&B/customer relationship equilibrium. The effective use of Internet Technologies within the D&B Customer segments offered this opportunity.

Internet Technology, characterised by the World Wide Web and the tools built for it (such as browsers), offer a unique set of functional characteristics that match closely with many of the D&B’s customer.

1. In many ways, D&B is a real-time publisher. HTML (the Report Language of the Internet) is a perfect format to use for the publishing and transfer of D&B business information.

 

2. D&B’s goods of sale are electronic by nature and do not require physical distribution. The electronic, on-line nature of the Internet provides D&B with the perfect environment in which to carry out transactions with its customers.

 

3. D&B’s customers generally access D&B goods via a subscription service, with either payment at the initiation of the subscription process or regularly throughout the subscription itself. As such, D&B knows its customers well - with many face to face contact points. Internet technologies such as encryption and certificates match very well to this as there is no actual payment at time of purchase.

 

4. D&B data is often merged with customer information at the time of order. The plug-in capability that comes with all browsers provides this interface.

 

5. D&B customers have varying technology depending upon their business need. Browsers are now common across most technology platforms.

 

6. Intranets within the D&B organization can offer similar access to the internal customer as that offered to the external customer via an Extranet. Varying access levels and types exist to control and ensure security.

Due to these significant factors, D&B decided to move into the Intranet/Extranet environment.

The D&B Extranet was first commissioned in February 1997. At that time, it supported the needs of one type of customer for one product - that being Australian Subscription customers who wanted Australian Business Information Reports.

Since then, functionality has been added month by month, expanding the relevant offering in range of products, range of services, method of delivery and even in the value added services provided.

Although originally built for Australia, it is now being used by customers in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

At present, one in eight Australian requests to D&B for on-line business insight information are being placed over the Extranet by D&B’s customers.

Internally, almost every D&B employee who previously used the 3270 Terminal access system are in the process of switching over to the D&B Intranet for accessing D&B Information.

As D&B moves into 1998, the Extranet/Intranet has become a vital internal and external access channel. D&B considers itself now "leading the pack" with regard to its marketplace.

With this emerging environment, many challenges have been overcome, while others remain.

Internet, Intranet and Extranet.

Although very similar, these three pillars of WEB based access needed to be viewed very distinctly.

Internet access is perhaps the easiest to imagine. With this access, there are no barriers to entry, all are welcome. D&B supports this via a very standard WEB Server, a suitable firewall and the relevant pages of information, product offerings and support.

Extranet access is the next level above this, where entry is only permissible via some form of customer verification (such as user-id/password or certificates). At the point of entry, customers, if accepted, become trusted partners and they enter areas of the environment where Internet users cannot.

Within the D&B environment, entry into the Extranet areas is limited at present to customer (trusted partners) who have a user-id/password combination. Importantly, Extranet users must move into the "Extranet Login" page via the open Internet pages.

Intranet access, for D&B, is the final level of access - that being full access to only those (internal) customers who are on the internal D&B Network. For these customers, any additional login procedures are in place only for audit purposes.

Back-end systems are opened up to allow for full and unimpeded movement through the system. The security here is based upon Network login security - every Intranet user must be already logged on via the Network operating system at a suitable level.

Importantly again, Intranet users have access to the same Internet and Extranet pages as all other customers.

A simple diagram can identify the relevant structure:

There has been no duplication of development to support the three tiers of the D&B Net environment.

The product/service offerings D&B decided to provide via the three pillars were and continue to be carefully designed to ensure customer acceptance and most importantly customer use.

From the very first day of operations, D&B had a system that offered some form of value-add to customers wanting to using the Net Technologies.

It was critical to ensure that D&B was not just seen as "another spinning tops" Web site. Rather, a serious business site that provided solutions not just static promotions and off-line ordering.

As such, the Extranet/Intranet component was in the first stage of the development. It was obvious from the first version that real customer needs were more important than Internet surfers who wandered through the D&B Pages.

Most importantly, the back-end system - that being to connect to the WEB based system into a number of different database systems (such as a IBM Mainframe, a number of SQL Server machines and at least one UNIX based RDBMS) - was designed and implemented in version 1.

This is a very different approach to that taken by many WEB sites, where the easy step is to simply put up some static "corporate pages" and an off-line ordering service.

It was vital to D&B to ensure its customers saw from day one the Extranet/Intranet as a working, better alternative to the other on-line access systems in the marketplace.

Choosing this type of "critical application first" approach first up provided a number of immediate benefits:

• Customers (both external and internal) started to use the system immediately as it added value over existing systems
• Management were encouraged by the early adoption and therefore gained faith to move forward quickly into other WEB based business opportunities (both internal and external)
• A market presence was quickly and effectively established where it had not been before
• D&B rapidly became a figure-head for this type of development

There is no doubt that for D&B, building a functioning system as the entry point into Net technologies was the right, albeit more risky, move.

Today, almost any product/service that can be offered by D&B to its external and internal customers is being done via the Net system. This system has become a technical cultural centre for D&B, its employees and its customers.

A great challenge that remains even today (and will do so for some time to come) is in the area of Net Technology standards.

There is literally no part of the WEB that has not been impacted by conflicting standards over the past 3 years. From Browsers to CGI, from Java to SET, standards are still emerging. Attempting to ensure sub-systems are not re-developed over and over again to match these changes is a major challenge.

D&B has constantly worked to two main objectives:

• a "lowest common denominator" principle for any development, and
• that it must all be non-platform, non-vendor specific at every level (server & browser)

For the developers within D&B this has resulted in the following development template:

• Low Version Browser support
• No Java or Active X programs
• Limited Javascript and Cookie use
• CGI coding linking via C/C++ to back-end systems
• HTML Version 3.2 output.

For the user, this means having optimum usability and acceptance.

As such, on the whole our systems have stood up well - however there have been some areas where major re-work has been (or in planned to be) undertaken as part of the evolutionary process.

Security has been a paramount issue for all D&B Systems for many years.

It is made up of a number of components including physical, network, user and applications.

The Net technologies added a new dimension to this with the public network environment that is the World Wide Web.

For the first time, and unknown to D&B, persons/organizations are now able to come to the D&B site without declaring why or what they are there for. For the business, this is a seen as an opportunity - "attracting a wider, new audience". For the technology environment, this is viewed as a major security risk, unless suitable security is put into place.

Physical Security is controlled at the D&B Data Centre.

Network security within D&B is handled by a number of very secure proprietary systems that are placed directly behind the WEB system, itself protected by a Firewall. This is constantly monitored and checked.

User and application based security within the Extranet/Intranet remains an issue that is continually reviewed by the technology and business groups. For D&B, this level of security comprises:

1. Identification. D&B Customers are monitored at all times once they have entered.
1. Authentication. This is directly related to the value of the product/service being requested and is again monitored from the back-end at all times.
1. Authorisation & Accountability. The relevant auditing and accounting facilities have been enabled within the environment to react to any possible breaches. WEB systems are connected through middleware systems developed by D&B.

There is no doubt that security is critical - however it must be directly related to the data being provided.

Certificates and the technology around them offer a new way of building a very secure environment via the Internet. D&B is currently investing in this technology.

Return on Investment studies from around the world suggest Intranets can offer major ROI, sometimes within only a few months. Overall, the cost of hardware and software has been found to be far less significant than the cost of personnel (developers and support)*.

In the case of D&B, the outcome has been:

• A Strategic Platform
• Rapid Development
• 15% of all orders (to grow to 50% by end 1998)
• Significant Incremental revenue
• Customer Satisfaction (both internal and external)
• Satisfaction, Pride and the evolution of a new D&B culture
• Cost savings (one platform).

D&B has seen a significant ROI in its Extranet/Intranet development.

This is the most important business factor and is probably what stamps the Dun & Bradstreet Net Technologies Solution as a success.