Using Microsoft’s intuitive development tools, innovative Web technologies, and a solid suite of server applications, it took three programmers just four months to develop and release MS Market. A team of two developers, two testers, one program manager, and one product manager are responsible for taking user feedback and improving the site on a quarterly basis. From its inception, MS Market was optimized for ease of use, which is why, despite its high usage, there are only two people dedicated to supporting it.
Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition, a Microsoft® BackOffice® family member , serves as the main building block for MS Market. Site Server Commerce Edition runs on top of Microsoft Windows NT® Server and Microsoft Internet Information Server.
Using Active Server Pages, a powerful scripting capability of Internet Information Server, Microsoft created different online order forms for specific kinds of requisition requests. The forms, which employees fill out using the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, are easy to understand and typically take under three minutes to complete.
Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition, also provides the ability to process orders at the vendors' Web sites. MS Market uses Site Server Commerce Edition’s Order Processing Pipeline to manage the order process workflow, with more than 30 default components that allow price look-ups, product and price promotions, inventory assessments, shipping and handling information, and other functions. All of MS Market’s data is stored in Microsoft SQL Server, which supports the high rate of transactions worldwide.
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