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Prerequisite Skills and Knowledge

  • Article

Commerce Server 2009 provides a set of features and tools to develop, deploy, and manage e-commerce Web sites. To work with Commerce Server 2009, you must have specific skills that span three areas of expertise throughout an organization. These areas are as follows:

  • Developer Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

  • System Administrator Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

  • Business User Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

You should have knowledge of enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies and the general challenges of heterogeneous application integration.

Developer Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

A developer of Commerce Server 2009 solutions must be at least moderately experienced with the use of the following:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and Enterprise editions with SP2, or Windows Server 2008

  • Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 or 7.0

  • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)

  • Visual Studio 2008 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and the development of .NET solutions.

  • Programming with the .NET Framework.

  • Extensible Markup Language (XML).

  • Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformations (XSLT).

  • Dynamic HTML (DHTML).

  • Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects (ADO.NET).

  • HTML Components (HTC).

  • Active Server Pages (ASP) and ASP.NET.

  • XML Schema Definition Language (XSD).

  • Web service use and development.

The following table provides examples of the tasks that developers perform and links to topics about the tools, systems, and interfaces they use.

Responsibilities

Tools, systems, and interfaces

  • Builds Commerce Server Web applications.

  • Customizes Commerce Server business logic.

  • Modifies pipeline components.

  • Develops custom pipeline components.

  • Integrates the Web site together with existing systems and applications.

  • Migrates existing e-commerce sites and databases.

  • Customizes Commerce Server systems.

  • Adds new extension snap-ins to Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

  • Extends the Data Warehouse.

  • Creates custom reports.

System Administrator Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

The following table shows the areas of proficiency expected for a system administrator or IT professional.

System administrator task

Prerequisite knowledge

Design the deployment infrastructure.

An understanding of reliability, availability, security, performance, compatibility, networking, and hardware and software management concepts.

Deploy the infrastructure.

Must know how to do the following:

  • Deploy Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008.

  • Manage user and group accounts in Windows domains.

  • Configure networking and connectivity.

  • Implement network and file security in a Windows network environment.

  • Deploy Microsoft SQL Server.

Deploy a larger installation.

Must know how to configure SQL Server clustering and understand load-balancing technologies.

Deploy and manage a Commerce Server application.

Must know how to manage server applications in a Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 environment and understand how to create and manage Web sites and virtual directories.

An IT professional responsible for the deployment of Commerce Server solutions must be at least moderately experienced with the use of the following:

  • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)

  • IIS 6.0 or 7.0

  • Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI).

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and Enterprise editions with SP2, or Windows Server 2008.

  • Internet Information Services (IIS).

  • Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services.

  • Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 (required only if you want to use the Commerce Server 2009 Adapters for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006).

  • Performance monitoring and optimization techniques.

  • Backup and restore concepts and techniques.

The following table provides examples of the tasks that system administrators perform and links to topics about the tools and interfaces that they use.

Responsibilities

Tools and interfaces

  • Packages and moves sites to production computers.

  • Configures and optimizes Commerce Server resources.

  • Manages authorization and security.

  • Manages user profiles and the profile schema.

  • Deploys or stages Web content updates.

  • Schedules Data Warehouse import tasks.

  • Schedules Direct mailer jobs.

  • Maintains Commerce Server databases.

  • Troubleshoots the Web site environment.

  • Monitors and optimizes Commerce Server installations.

Site Designer Knowledge Requirements

Site designers are responsible for designing the site, making structural changes to the site, and adding or removing Web Parts. They should be familiar with:

  • Microsoft Commerce Server 2007

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and Enterprise editions with SP2, or Windows Server 2008

  • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS)

  • XML

  • XSLT

  • Web site design concepts

  • Usability concepts

Business User Knowledge Requirements, Roles, and Responsibilities

Business users (merchandisers and marketers) are responsible for defining the business goals, strategies, and processes for creating and running a successful e-commerce Web site in addition to monitoring business activity. They should be familiar with:

  • Microsoft Commerce Server 2007

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard and Enterprise editions with SP2, or Windows Server 2008

  • Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS); page editing and Web Part property selection

  • Web site navigation

  • Basic publishing concepts (updating content, approving content, and publishing content)

The following table provides examples of the tasks business users perform and links to topics about the tools and interfaces they use.

Responsibilities

Tools and interfaces

  • Creates specifications for developing the Web site.

  • Determines how the Web site should be updated in order to meet business goals.

  • Requests new and customized modules for the Business Management applications.

  • Creates advertising campaigns.

  • Manages product catalogs.

  • Analyzes user activity and site effectiveness.

  • Manages registered users and trading partners.

See Also

Other Resources

Administration and Operations Tools

Business Management Applications

Development Platform and Commerce Server Systems

Common Deployment Tasks

Common Administrative Tasks

Common Business User Tasks

Common Development Tasks

Using Commerce Server 2009