iMall Integrates Leading Object Database

Technology Across All Product Lines

BUSINESS WIRE -- January 20, 1999

The implementation of traditional relational databases in electronic commerce is quickly becoming eclipsed by the use of object technology. Recently, iMall, Inc., the largest online mall, announced that it would employ object-oriented database software called ObjectStore® at the product and merchant level for all of its Web sites. The company estimates that the use of object technology would enable iMall to support as many as 100 million products and 1 million e-commerce Web sites. The company further reports that this implementation has decreased the time to develop and deploy new add-on services.

The shift from traditional relational database architecture to object technology appears to be beneficial for the future of e-commerce. The object-oriented modeling approach more clearly represents the "real-world" application of an organization, which makes it more compatible with the electronic environment. Although this model is not a "silver bullet", the iterative process used from the analysis to implementation phases does speed up the development of new programs or in the case of e-commerce new services. In contrast, structured analysis lacks a common underlying representation of the organization. Secondly, object-oriented software improves maintenance, reusability, and the ability to modify software. This enables an e-commerce business to process more transactions, thus improving profitability. Lastly, the major barrier to mass retail electronic commerce on the Internet is the lack of security. Recent advances in security protocols, written in object-oriented languages for Web browsers, such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Secure HTTP (S-HTTP), have helped allay the fears of the public in conducting transactions on the Internet.

Tony S. Parrish

ISM5206- Database Management

Industry News, February 1, 1999