The public-key cryptography approach also creates a more efficient means of cryptographic security by ensuring RSA-compliant encryption and decryption throughout the secured network (Sarkar, Maitra, 2010). As a result the use of public-key cryptography hardens and makes more secure each connection and node on a network (Chevalier, Rusinowitch, 2010). C3. What will help you trust a public-key that belongs to an unfamiliar person or Web site, and why does it improve trust?

First, the reliance on public-key cryptography from unfamiliar sites can increase trust by having the specific security levels of security configured on an enterprise-wide network to only support more advanced forms of cryptography-based configurations (Galindo, Herranz, 2008). In other words configuring an entire network to support only the more advanced forms of public-key cryptography can make each site accessed more trustworthy. In organizations this is possible yet in individual system and website use, the reliance on certificate-based encryption significantly increases trust (Galindo, Morillo, Rafols, 2008).

D1. Rapid growth of the Internet is triggering dramatic changes in traditional business methods and practices. But some industries and businesses seem better able to deal with the online world than others. For this question, identify a business or a service function you are familiar with. Describe and defend your strategy for implementing a web-based application to support that business or service. Be sure to conduct an environmental scan, determine best practices, identify information technology elements (infrastructure or capabilities) necessary to conduct the business, and a strategy for capitalizing on the success of your venture in the next iteration. (2 pages, 6 APA)

The most critical aspect of any company's ongoing operations and its future growth is the strength and depth of its relationships with customers. Given the pressure software companies are under to continually stay on top of their customers' needs and rapidly innovate, these company's rapid adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications is understandable (King, 2010). Further fueling the urgency to adopt CRM on the SaaS-based delivery model is the growing acceptance of this platform by Chief Information Officers (CIO) who is historically the most conservative members of senior management teams (Creeger, 2009). Based on an environmental scan of the use of SaaS for CRM-based strategies the finding has emerged that organizations prefer being able to pay a monthly fee for access, accounting for these fees as operating expenses (OPEX) (Hill, 2008). This is quite a shift in how enterprise software is purchased as the majority of the time the costs are included in larger capital budgets (CAPEX). Often CAPEX-based spending for software must be approved by a company's board of directors and therefore can take months or years in some cases to get approved. The environmental scan of companies adopting CRM on the SaaS platform showed that the ability to pay for the software on a monthly basis while also scaling it globally throughout an organization is a powerful catalyst for adoption (Kenney, 2007).

Just as rapidly as CRM is being adopted on the SaaS platform, often with the support of CIOs (Creeger, 2009) an evolving set of best practices is beginning to also emerge. These best practices center on aligning the highly specific and unique business processes within organizations to the CRM systems as combined these systems allow for faster attainment of initiatives, plans and strategic goals (Concha, Espadas, Romero, Molina, 2010). The reliance on Business Process Management (BPM) (Hoskins, 2008) techniques to further streamline critical customer-facing and internal processes that rely on customer information has also delivered measurable financial results for SaaS early adopters (Creeger, 2009). The economics of SaaS, combined with the commitment on the part of companies to re-architect their processes to capitalize on a higher quality and speed of delivery of customer information, is in the process of significantly increase company performance (Hill, 2008).

The technological implications of SaaS are highly dependent on the underlying Web programming languages the applications are based on, with Asynchronous JavaScript (AJAX) being the most prevalent due to its speed...

The most challenging aspect of adopting SaaS as a platform for delivering CRM applications however is in integrating the new platform to legacy systems, many of which are decades old within the companies adopting SaaS platforms (Bajaj, Bradley, Cravens, 2008). CIOs are finding that the investments in SaaS integration are worth it (Creeger, 2009) as the streamlined business processes (Bajaj, Bradley, Cravens, 2008) deliver greater efficiency and greater accuracy of customer records (Hill, 2008). When all of these factors are combined many companies using SaaS for CRM strategies begin to integrate data modeling and advanced analytics in their firms (Hoberman, 2010). The ability of companies to quickly interpret the advanced analytics that are available through greater integration with customer data is proving to be a competitive advantage in better understanding unmet market needs (Hill, 2008). When implemented correctly SaaS-based CRM systems then can become a powerful catalyst for greater competitive advantage in each of the markets they serve.