B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

400 B2B Integration — A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce
13.9.8. Integration with legacy systems
Software agents provide an ideal mechanism for integrating legacy
systems with new data systems. Agents are well suited to implement
these middleware applications. They can be used to perform data translation
and implement data systems interfaces that meet a wide variety
of requirements. This is one of the key attributes of agent technology in
automating B2B e-commerce, as dynamic B2B relationships involve
exchange and interpretation of heterogeneous data.
Agent technology can be used to produce a simple information agent
by 'wrapping' any information source to allow it to conform to the
communication conventions of an agent infrastructure. This allows for
the interconnection and interoperation of multiple existing legacy systems.
By building an agent wrapper around such systems, they can be
interoperated into an agent society.
13.9.9. Enable privacy in B2B transactions
B2B e-commerce has delivered several benefits to businesses, but it has
also substantially increased the need for privacy protection of participating
companies. Any person or company should not own privacy. It
should be a standard feature with every computer, every B2B transaction.
With the help of privacy agents, businesses can automate and
implement a privacy policy based on defined parameters.
Privacy agents enable companies to:
• Adopt and implement a privacy policy that takes into consideration
the goals of a company's Website as well as the anxiety of consumers
over sharing information online;
• Give users choice and consent over how their personal information is
used and shared; and
• Put data security and access measures in place to safeguard, update
and correct personally identifiable information.
@YourCommand's unique intelligent agents that assure anonymity
and privacy are an example of such agents.