IMPORTANT NOTICE:
THIS ARTICLE IS AN EXTRACT OF LINES FROM A REPORT SUBMITTED BY MUKESH PARTHASARATHY TO UNITEC NEW ZEALAND. PLAGIARISM IS A SEVERE OFFENCE. KINDLY USE CITATIONS IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR PAPERS OR WEBSITES.
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Policies and recommendations developed for ASI are in strict conformance with the different software bodies that provide affiliation.
Policies provide the framework for getting efficiently organized and helps in better management of skills and resources.
Sound policies are the backbone of any website hosting and servicing company. Hence it is imperative to define good policies for the roles of the team members.
The following policies may be useful pointers for defining the roles of the team members in ASI:
(1)The team members must strictly adhere to good professional practices that are in conformance with good software engineering principles.
(2)The management of ASI, which represents the status quo of ASI alone has the powers to define the organization structure and roles.
(3)The roles defined by the management of ASI may be modified or sometimes be removed completed as the requirements of the company changes to keep in tune with the trends in the software industry.
(4)The size of the team that works at the offices of ASI is decided as per the requirements of the Human Resource Development (HRD).The director of the HRD forwards his recommendations to the management of ASI.
(5)The director of HRD defines the roles of the team members and forwards his recommendations to the management of ASI.
(6)The director of HRD fixes the pay scale for the different employees of ASI and gets the draft ratified and approved by the management of ASI.
(7)The director of HRD is responsible for maintaining the motivation levels of the employees of ASI and may follow different motivational models like the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order to understand the needs of the employees and help them break the performance ceiling.
(8)The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of graphic designers.
(9)The graphic designer is responsible for developing the graphics for the different web pages of the client.
(10)The graphic designer will be using softwares like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw to design the images. He may use special effects on the images as and when required to make the graphics more relevant.
(11)The graphic designer closely works with the animator and caters to his needs and requirements.
(12)The graphic designer sometimes gets free hand pictures of images from free hand artists and scans and colours the pixels to develop a good quality image.
(13)The images developed by the graphic designer must be in the correct resolution as defined by the project manager.
(14)The images developed by the graphic designer must be in gif/jpeg format.
(15)The graphic designer must optimize all the images before it is ready to be published on the World Wide Web.
(16)The graphic designer must not include or develop obscene pictures.
(17)The graphic designer is also responsible for scanning the pictures and documents that has been collected from the client’s office.
(18)The graphic designer is responsible for the safety of all these pictures and documents. He should not lose these materials or should not damage them as they need to be returned to the client once his website development is over.
(19)The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of animators who add interactivity to the websites.
(20)The animator of ASI needs to be creative and unconventional. He must be an idea man for ASI.
(21)The animator takes care of both 2D and 3D animations.
(22)The animator does 2D animations using tools like Macromedia Flash and Adobe Image Ready.
(23)The animator gets the basic images for his frames from the graphic designer or the 3D modelling specialist.
(24)The animator must cooperate and work closely with the graphic designers and the 3D modelling specialists.
(25)The animator fixes the frame rate for the animations he does.
(26)The animator also decides upon the number of frames required for the animations he does.
(27)The animator must get his animations approved by the project manager.
(28)The animator must think “outside the box” and must come up with new interesting ideas from time to time.
(29)The animator is responsible for correct rendering all the 3D scenes/frames.
(30)The animator must optimize all the animations he creates-especially 3D animations.
(31)The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of programmers.
(32)The programmer of ASI works in a team that is managed by a team leader appointed by the management.
(33)The programmer of ASI must be capable of team work.
(34)The programmer of ASI does both server side and client side computing.
(35)The programmer must do coding using Java/HTML/DHTML/XML/ASP/PERL.
(35)The programmer must also do coding using languages like C#, C++ etc as and when needed.
(36)The programmer must write Java Applets and he must also design games and puzzles wherever required.
(37)The programmer must also integrate visitor counters and site maps with his code.
(38)The programmer must be capable of open source computing.
(39)The programmer must also have a sound knowledge of UML and Patterns and must be able to include appropriate design/analysis patterns in the Use Case.
(40)The programmer must not “re-invent the wheel” as per good software engineering principles. Hence he must include good object encapsulation principles and “custom built code”.
(41)The programmer must follow the algorithm/flow chart defined by the team leader.
(42)The programmer is responsible for de-bugging the code he writes and may work with the team leader and other team members on this issue.
(43)The programmer must integrate all the graphics and animations provided by the graphic designers and animators.
(44)The programmer must make the web pages compatible with different RSS readers.
(45)The programmer only develops the modules that has been assigned to him and does not have a say over the modules that are developed by his fellow team members.
(46)The programmer follows a “modular approach” to coding.
(47)The programmer must also be capable of using Microsoft Front Page/Macromedia Dream weaver. ASI does not define an exclusive role for the usage of tools like Dream weaver and Front Page.
(48)ASI management however may define a role called “Page editor” in the future as required. The job of the Page Editor is to use Dream weaver and/or Front Page.
(49) The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of Data Base Administrators (DBA).
(50)The DBA takes care of all the databases that reside on the servers of ASI.
(51)The DBA maintains an index database to track all the records.
(52)The DBA also maintains a master database and backup databases.
(53)The DBA regularly updates and takes back-ups of all the records.
(54)The DBA keeps all the records sorted by the appropriate data field so that the records are easy to retrieve.
(55)The DBA uses the appropriate indexing and hashing techniques.
(56)The DBA defines the relationship between the different tables and defines methods for simultaneous retrieval of records from different tables.
(57)The DBA provides the template for the different combinations of SQL queries. He takes care of all the permutations and combinations that may arise.
(58)The DBA is responsible for maintaining the timestamp for the different transactions that occur on the website of the client. This is important for website auditing purposes.
(59)The DBA maintains the data of the visitor traffic and trends on his database and may release them to the management as and when required.
(60)The DBA takes care of database crash and always has a contingency plan.
(61)In the event of a system crash he has a good recovery plan.
(62)In the event of a system crash he uses the backup databases to recover lost data and map them into the appropriate tables.
(63)The DBA alone decides the sizes of the different tables.
(64)The DBA maintains log files that get written every time a transaction happens.
(65)The DBA maintains tables that contain meta-data. Sometimes he also maintains meta-meta-data if the data residing on the servers is very vast.
(66)The DBA implements his database using appropriate structures like Binary Tree/Graph.
(67)The DBA currently also assumes the role of Database engineer/Database architect. However in the future, ASI may come up with unique roles for Database engineers and Database architects.
(68) The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of Network administrators.
(69)The network administrator sees to it that the website of the client runs properly.
(70)The network administrator takes care of the servers of ASI.
(71)The network administrator provides the firewall for the different websites developed by ASI.
(72)The network administrator provides SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) technology for the clients who want to use it.
(73)The network administrator keeps in tune with the current RFC’s (Request For Comment) in order to remain contemporary.
(74)The network administrator provides the plug-in support for different browsers.
(75)The network administrator makes the web pages compatible with different leading browsers.
(76)The network administrator takes care of the corporate intranets and maintains the LAN and the WAN networks.
(77)The network administrator optimises the website for different broadband speeds and dial-up speeds.
(78)The network administrator sees to it that the data packets/data grams have lossless delivery.
(79)The network administrator also keeps track of the visitor statistics.
(80)The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include a good team of webmasters.
(81)The webmaster monitors all the websites.
(82)The webmaster also oversees the functioning of the network administrator.
(83)The webmaster is responsible for the overall performance of the websites of the client.
(84)The webmaster reports directly to the management. He is the chief technical head of ASI.
(85) The management of ASI and the HRD needs to include good project managers, team leaders, marketing managers, and Internet consultants.
(86)The project manager sees to it that the project or the contract acquired is completed on time.
(87)The project manager outlines the deadlines and schedules for the contract.
(88)The project manager controls the team leaders.
(89)The team leaders manage the team that is under them.
(90)The team leader is responsible for the performance of the team.
(91)The team leader reports to the project manager.
(92)The team leader sees to it that the coding is bug free.
(93)The marketing manager sees to it that ASI gets more clients.
(94)The marketing manager is actively involved in keeping up with competitors in the industry.
(95)The marketing manager outlines the sales target for the company.
(96)The marketing manager prepares the quotations for the prospective client.
(97)The marketing manager prepares the cost of web pages and comes up with attractive packages and schemes.
(98)The marketing manager represents ASI in technical shows and exhibitions. The marketing manager projects and protects the image of the company.
(99)The internet consultant meets with the prospective client and tells him about what ASI can do.
(100)The internet consultant understands the requirements of the client and explains the different features that can be included in the website.
(101)The internet consultant gives an appropriate quotation to the prospective client.
(102)The internet consultant invites the prospective client to ASI office for demo sessions.
(103)The internet consultant directly reports to the marketing manager.
(104)The internet consultant collects the materials for designing the client site from the client. This includes materials such as official documents, brochures, pictures, logos etc.
(105)The internet consultant negotiates with the prospective client and urges him to go for as many web pages as possible. In some cases he just makes the client to go for a simple domain name registration.
(106)The internet consultant reports to the management on prospective clients who want to buy server space. In such cases the prospective client negotiates directly with the management of ASI.
The procedures for maintaining and promoting a website is so important as it has a great impact on all the stakeholders involved. Hence the correct procedures must be adopted in order to derive the maximum benefit. A mutual win-win situation would be very amicable.
Given below are procedures for maintaining and promoting a website. These procedures are guidelines for efficient running of websites.
1. The client shall specify his requirements correctly and accurately.
2. The client must specify what exactly he wants to achieve through an online presence.
3. The client must specify the quintessential of his website.
4. The advertisers must tell the size of their banner advertisements. Or if it is the client who wants to decide upon the size of advertisements, then in such cases he can be advised by the management of ASI.
5. Separate rates are charged for banner advertisements and banner animations.
6. The rates for web banners is decided by the management of ASI.
7. The cost of a web banner/web advertisement depends on the size of the advertisement. More the size of the banner, greater is the price.
8. The cost of banners on the homepage of the website is more than the banners that are put on the subsequent pages.
9. Pop-up banners are designed by ASI only subject to the approval of the management.
10. Advertisers who want to put their banners on the client site must first get in touch with the client office and only after confirmation from the client will ASI design the banners.
11. The auditing of websites is usually done towards the end of the financial quarters Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4.
12. The auditing and accountability procedures are in strict conformance with the industry norms and standards.
13. ASI maintains log records of all the visitor traffic that has happened on the client sites. These log records may be utilized for auditing purposes.
14. If the client of ASI subscribes to pay per click style of attracting revenues, then in such cases ASI is not responsible for any disputes arising from the same. ASI only provides the technical functionality.
15. The management of ASI may increase/decrease the cost of web pages from time to time keeping in tune with the trends in the industry. ASI pitches it’s price very competitively.
16. ASI charges separate rates for special technologies like the design of visitor counters, guest maps etc.
17. ASI may introduce attractive schemes and packages for it’s customers from time to time.
18. ASI charges separate rates for selling domain space on it’s servers. Interested clients may negotiate directly with the management of All Sides International Limited.
19. ASI keeps in touch with it’s clients 24 hours every day. This helps ASI to get information updates about the client site. Once the requirements for updation are known, data is updated on the website.
20. ASI appreciates if the client provides information update well in advance as it enables the team at ASI to make corrections at the appropriate time.
21. ASI submits the website of it’s client to popular search engines.
22. ASI usually submits to search engines like google, yahoo, msn, ask jeeves.
23. ASI usually does not charge for submission to search engines.
24. ASI tries it’s best to improve the search rankings of it’s client sites so that they get a bigger “footprint” on the Internet.
25. ASI may not syndicate the client site if the client so desires. Sites that are not syndicated do not appear in search engine results. In such cases ASI may ask it’s clients the exact reason for not syndicating the website. And if it is not convinced of the reason given, then ASI may not design the website for the client.
26. All Sides International Limited plays by all the copyright rules and policies of all the stakeholders involved.
27. All Sides International Limited regularly updates it’s software facilities in order to remain contemporary and competitive in the industry.
28 .All Sides International Limited uses the latest version of important softwares.
29. ASI regularly monitors the performance of it’s servers. It takes every care to protect the data that resides on it’s servers.
30. ASI maintains backup of all the data that resides on it’s servers.
31. ASI regularly updates the database tables on it’s servers.
32. ASI provides all the database information for auditing purposes.
33. The management of All Sides International Limited may sponsor the web address of the client in popular search engines like google.
34. The management of ASI encourages it’s clients to provide sponsored results on important search engines as it increases the visibility of the website. The client can get free consultation on this aspect from the management team of All Sides International Limited.
35. All Sides International Limited encourages it’s client to provide useful external links on it’s website. Mutual sponsoring on websites helps in attracting more traffic.
36. The team at All Sides International Limited regularly monitors the client websites. It sees to it that there are no broken links on the client website.
37. Outlandish site statistics are reported immediately to the client and an investigation may be launched into any disputes arising from the same.
38. All Sides International Limited offers attractive email packages and it can deliver customised email solutions to it’s customers.
39. ASI charges separates for the different email packages it offers.
40. Separate special rates are charged if the client wants email space in gigabytes.
41. All Sides International Limited may introduce reading pane technology that makes navigation through mails inside the inbox easier.
42. ASI team charges separate rates for domain name registration.
43. ASI may charge more for longer duration of domain parking.
44. Chat rooms may be designed for the client if he so desires. ASI charges a competitive fee for designing chat rooms and discussion forums on the client website.
45. All Sides International Limited is not responsible for the content in the chat rooms and discussion forums.
46. ASI checks for browser compatibility and sees to it that the client website renders properly on different popular browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Netscape, and Opera.
47. All Sides International Limited charges a separate fee for designing virtual walkthroughs and other special 3D effects.
48. If there is a change in contact information of the client, then the same shall be communicated to ASI at the earliest.
49. All Sides International goes by all the above mentioned policies.
50. All Sides International adheres to holistic software practices when it comes to maintaining and promoting the client site.
Security is all important when it comes to managing the websites of the clients. It is important to keep in tune with the latest trends in the industry and adopt contemporary networking protocols.
The following security procedures can serve as guidelines in order to run efficiently secure servers:
1. The network must be first of all be free of all hackers. In order to do this, the existing hackers on the network must be eliminated. Although there is no 100% guarantee that we can completely eradicate hackers, some positive steps can be taken.
2. There must be implementation of SSL which stands for Secure Sockets Layer.
3. The SSL method must be implemented for all the clients so that there are no third party listeners.
4. If the client feels that he does not want to use SSL as it is slow, then ASI will not implement SSL for him.
5. Login ids and passwords must be authenticated so that only authorised users are allowed into the network.
6. Intranets must be protected by firewalls.
7. If the user is behind a firewall then he is protected.
8. Implementation of firewalls must be made mandatory for all the clients as it is the responsibility of ASI to provide the necessary protection to it’s esteemed customers.
9. The network administrator must maintain a log of all the IP addresses that accesses the servers of All Sides International Limited.
10. The network administrator must report all malicious network activities immediately to the management of All Sides International Limited.
11. The network administrator must work closely with the web master to enhance network security.
12. The network administrator must follow all the codes of conducts and keep in tune with the latest RFCs. (Request For Comments)
13. Backup servers must be activated in the event of a server crash.
14. The webmaster must maintain a good contingency plan and must have a plethora of options before him.
15. Email accounts must be freed from phishing mails. In order to do this All Sides International Limited must provide high quality phishing filters.
16. The email accounts of the customers must be spam free. In order to do this, All Sides International must provide high quality spam filters to it’s customers.
17. The online payment system must be authenticated so that third parties and hackers don’t steal credit card information. This is very important as it is an important area of concern for all the customers of All Sides International Limited.
18. All online payments must happen through Secure Sockets Layer network channels.
19. Good cookie management practices must be adopted.
20. The network administrator must monitor all the cookies that are being set on the servers of All Sides International Limited.
21. The network administrator must decide as to which visiting sites can set cookies and which visiting sites should not be allowed to set cookies.
22. The network administrator must completely block all the unwanted websites.
23. All Sides International must have a good spy ware policy. They must provide anti-spy ware tools or provide links to free anti-spy ware downloads.
24. The network administrator must see to it that all the websites of the clients of All Sides International get security certificates.
25. Pop-up advertisements must be avoided as far as possible.
26. Pop-up ads must be designed only if the client really wants to have them in his web pages.
27. The network of All Sides International must be free of worms, viruses, and trojan horses.
28. Inorder to protect the servers of All Sides International from malicious worms, viruses, and trojan horses, the latest security and network protocols must be adopted.
29. The network administrator must see to it that the computers of All Sides International Limited and that of it’s esteemed customers don’t get converted into zombie computers. If the computers become part of a botnet, then the computers become zombie computers that automatically start sending spam and viral attachments.
30. If the client of All Sides International subscribes to pay per click advertising scheme, then the team at ASI must see to it that no fraud happens.
31. Plug-in codes must be reviewed before they are added.
32. Outlandish site statistics must be reported immediately to the management of All Sides International Limited.
33. Outlandish site statistics must be recorded and a log of the IP addresses must be maintained for future purpose.
34. The buffer cache on the server must be periodically be cleared.
35. The network must be monitored at all times and there must be 24 by 7 support line.
36. A good disaster recovery plan must be maintained.
37. Proxy IP addresses must be issued in order to protect the real IP address of the host computer.
38. Good data encryption methods must be adopted.
39. Good algorithms must be used to authenticate the network. Algorithms like the RSA algorithms must be used to provide the clients with maximum security.
40. There must be good networking practices.
41. Awareness of networking procedures must be communicated through newsletters and emails.
42. The server side script and the client side script must be validated before the final implementation.
43. The HTML coding must have very little confidential information within it’s source code.
44. The codes written must be bug free.
45. The data packets or the data grams that are sent over the network must be correctly encoded.
46. There must be no clogging of network in the event of the network traffic getting high on the servers of All Sides International Limited.
47. The routers must not be overburdened as this may increase the average response time.
48. Good broadband speeds must be ensured so that multimedia content renders properly.
49. The broadband speeds must not fluctuate.
50. There must be lossless transfer of data. NO data packet or data gram must be lost while getting transferred across the network.
51. There must not be clash of data packets across the network while transmission happens. Correct handshake procedures must be followed.
52. The databases that reside on the servers must not crash and the consistency of the different tables and their relationship and mapping must be maintained intact.
53. Relational databases must be checked for consistency.
54. The SQL queries must be validated.
55. There must not be malicious listing in search engines. This is important as such listings can affect the image of the client of All Sides International Limited.
56. Wrong listings in search engines must be reported immediately.
57. Groups and discussion forums on the client site must be moderated.
58. Proper sign-in procedures must be adopted for email accounts.
59. Good quality render engines must be used by the servers of All Sides International Limited.
60. The servers must be upgraded regularly in order to keep up with the trends in the software industry.
61. Latest versions of software must be used in order to enhance maximum security.
