7.4. The Methodology
Following the reference model for electronic business discussed in Chapter 1, we defined a capacity planning methodology that covers the business level, the customer behavior level, and the resource level. A high level view of the methodology is illustrated in Fig. 7.2. It shows that capacity planning for e-business is composed of three main planning processes: business and functional planning, customer behavior planning, and IT resource planning. These planning processes are explained in detail in the following sections.
Figure 7.2. High-level View of a Capacity Planning Methodology for E-Business.
The business and functional planning processes are influenced by business evolution plans and function evolution plans. Evolution in customer behavior affects the customer behavior planning process and plans to evolve the infrastructure affect the IT resource planning process as indicated in Fig. 7.2.
The outcome of the planning process is a set of plans for modification and evolution of the site in terms of business model, e-commerce functions offered, customer behavior models, and IT infrastructure.