Accounting Information Systems: The Processes and Controls, 2nd Edition

SUMMARY OF STUDY OBJECTIVES

An introduction to e-commerce and e-business. E-business is the use of electronic means to enhance business processes. E-business encompasses all forms of online electronic trading, consumer-based e-commerce, business-to-business electronic trading and process integration, as well as the internal use of IT and related technologies for process integration inside organizations. There is an overlap between e-commerce and e-business, which leads some to confuse the two concepts. E-commerce is electronically enabled transactions between a business and its customers. E-business is a broader concept that includes e-commerce, as well as all forms of electronic means of servicing customers and vendors, trading information with customers and vendors, and recording and control of internal processes.

The history of the Internet. The Internet of today evolved from an early government research network called ARPANET. Many of the network standards were developed in the period of ARPANET. Routers, TCP/IP, and e-mail all came about during this time. ARPANET gradually evolved into a fully commercial network called the Internet. After the Internet became available for commercial transactions in 1994, it experienced tremendous and rapid growth.

The physical structure and standards of the Internet. Backbone providers, regional Internet service providers, and local Internet service providers make up the physical structure of the Internet that connects global users. The common ...