As the courts and Shawn Fanning (The "Napster") wrangle over copyright issues, the service behind Napster brings up thoughts of some interesting possibilities in the B2B e-commerce space, and is the topic of this week''s column on EC Outlook. Napster has epitomized the uses of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networking in ways no other implementation can begin to match. Often it takes a youngster, like Shawn Fanning with no preconceived ideas on how the Internet should work, to harness its distributed power so effectively. While the rest of the world''s pendulum swings widely from fat-client to thin-client, Napster has shown to the world that thin and slightly-less-than-thin are both in and can peacefully coexist to take full advantage of all the computing resources available. The Holy Grail of computing has been demonstrated as overwhelmingly successful and may well be the basis for the next killer application!
A Background On Peer-to-Peer
Peer-to-peer computing allows users to swap information between computers without reliance on a central server to facilitate the transfer. Using the Napster model, users searching for a particular MP3 file log on to the Napster server using the Internet to conduct a search. Napster then searches for the files through the PCs of the other users connected to Napster at that time. When it locates the file, Napster redirects the requesting computer to the responding computer and the transfer is performed between the peers. Napster maintains the databases that help it determine where the file may be located and to complete the connection between users -- while getting out of the middle of it. User PCs download software from the Napster site to help connect to the service and to manage the requests for downloads and outgoing connections.
Napster has solved a seemingly complex problem with both elegance and style. The Napster software and the Napster site are easy to use, friendly, but most important -- effective, even as the public debate on shutting down the service continues.
Implications for B2B
So what does any of this have to do with Business-to-Business e-commerce you ask? Software distribution comes to mind, and seems like a good place to start.
While software online mega-storehouses like ZDNet''s Hotfiles.com and CNET''s Download.com are terrific services for what they''re intended to do (distribute freeware and shareware), their models are not sufficient (or reliable enough) to meet the need of commercial software users needing mission-critical support. Why not use a P2P model to help solve the problem of distributing patches, upgrades, and even new copies of software via networked PCs that can ''broadcast out'' to other peers who need the software in real-time? This approach to distribution would require only a fraction of the time it takes to otherwise distribute the software or software patches. While security around this process is a concern (we don''t want that kind of efficiency to distribute viruses!), the problems are not insurmountable.
How about online auctions? Rather than maintaining specific auction item details by updating the Ebay or Amazon Auctions databases, why not use those services only for the meta-data on the items, but keep item details locally and under user control. The auction site could then concentrate on the running the auctions and keeping the user feedback areas up-to-date without dealing with terabytes of auction item details and graphics. Under this approach, updates on items offered for sale would be instantaneous, data integrity would improve, and the overall auction shopping and buying experiences can be vastly improved.
Another sticky problem that P2P might help to solve is catalog data for both B2B and B2C sites. Security notwithstanding, using locally stored copies of catalog information that serves as a single source or single point of information would greatly improve information flows throughout the supply chain. Again, data integrity would be improved, and inventory records might actually begin to reflect reality, instead of what happened yesterday (or worse the week or month before!). It seems to me the possibilities here are endless.
Does anyone out there have other ideas for P2P that seem doable? I''d love to hear yours. With sufficient responses, I''ll be happy to share what you''re saying with other EC Outlook readers. Just imagine what the future might hold!
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