Feature Comparison of Commerce Server Versions

For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.

This topic provides a comparison of features for Commerce Server systems, applications, and tools for the following versions of Commerce Server:

  • Commerce Server 2007

  • Commerce Server 2002 Enterprise Edition, Feature Pack 1

  • Commerce Server 2002 Enterprise Edition

  • Commerce Server 2000

For a comparison of features supported in the various editions of Commerce Server 2007, see Commerce Server 2007 Editions.

Feature comparisons are grouped under these broad categories:

  • High Availability Features

  • Commerce Server Systems Features

  • Business Management Applications Features

  • Business Analytics Features

  • Administration and Operations Tools Features

  • Development Platform and Integration Features

High Availability Features

The following table summarizes the high availability and system integration features available in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Commerce Server Staging System to support scheduled deployments and upgrades of business data and Web site content.

Yes

No

No

No

Microsoft Application Center 2000 to support scheduled deployments and upgrades of Web site content.

No (replaced with the Commerce Server Staging System)

Yes

No

No

Scale-out architectures. Full support for load-balanced server farms that enable maximum scalability and reliability.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Superior recoverability. Enable quick failure recovery by making sure that all long-running tasks, such as Direct Mailer and Data Warehouse Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks, can be restarted.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Run-time components survive failover of dependent Windows services, application server, or underlying data stores.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

32-bit server support.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

64-bit server support.

Yes

No

No

No

Event logging support with Microsoft Windows NT Event Log reporting.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Performance monitoring using Commerce Server Health Monitoring Service and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM).

Yes

No

No

No

Commerce Server Systems Features

The following table summarizes the Commerce Server systems available in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server. The table also includes links to sections and topics that provide the details of feature changes and additions to the Commerce Server systems in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server.

System

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Catalog System

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Commerce Server Staging System

Yes

No

No

No

Inventory System

Yes

No

No

No

Marketing System

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Orders System

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Profiles System

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Business Processing Pipeline

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Catalog System Features

Commerce Server 2007 introduces many new features to the Catalog System. The following table compares support for Catalog System features in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Full, native .NET Framework access to design-time and run-time APIs through a Web Service–Agent model.

Yes

No

No

No

Catalog .NET Framework APIs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Catalog Component Object Model (COM) objects.

No (.NET Framework APIs are not visible in COM)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Service-oriented architecture that supports distributed management of Catalog and Inventory Systems and client connectivity.

Yes

No

No

No

Windows Forms-based management UI (see Catalog Manager Features Comparison).

Yes

Yes

No

No

Business Desk-based management UI.

No (replaced with Windows Forms-based management UI)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Granular security applied through Windows Authorization Manager scopes, roles, tasks, and operations.

Yes

No

No

No

Create, update, delete, retrieve, and manage catalog data, such as catalogs, catalog sets, categories, products, product variants, and properties.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create, edit, retrieve, and delete definitions for products and categories and metadata for properties.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Define and manage catalog sets, which are catalogs targeted to particular user profiles at run time.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Hierarchically structured catalogs that enable products to be classified into categories. Each product can belong to multiple categories with a primary parent. Supports canonical and ancestral categories.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Products can have variants based on small differences, such as color or packaging. Product families can contain variants.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create relationships between products and hierarchies across catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

User-defined catalog attributes and property attributes.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Multicurrency pricing support.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Multilingual catalogs support.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Convert data between time zones at client/server.

Yes

No

No

No

Virtual catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Custom catalogs.

No (replaced by virtual catalogs)

No (replaced by virtual catalogs)

No (replaced by virtual catalogs)

Yes

Virtual properties support for virtual catalogs and virtual catalog nesting.

Yes

No

No

No

Virtual catalogs property support and nesting.

Yes

No

No

No

Virtual catalog performance improvements to provide virtual catalog property support, enhanced rebuild and run-time performance, and nesting of virtual catalogs.

Yes

No

No

No

Catalog edit filter (Catalog Manager).

No (replaced with alternative feature)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Catalog ranking (sort order on the site). Rank products, categories, product variants, relationships, and enumerated values in base and virtual catalogs.

Yes

No

No

No

Set rank (sort order) for the enumerated values of a property.

Yes

No

No

No

Set rank (sort order) for relationships of a product.

Yes

No

No

No

Search by specification or property.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Search in a category.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Full-text search for inflectional, weighted, and proximity searches.

Yes

No

No

No

SQL text data types for products (not subject to the 8 KB/row limit).

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Can perform queries joined to external tables.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Bulk updates and deletions of catalog data by specifying an expression or by specifying a dataset with values.

Yes

No

No

No

Run-time and design-time data caching support.

Yes

No

No

No

Time-based caching for catalog objects.

Yes

No

No

No

Aggregate content from multiple catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Validate the content of an XML catalog file without importing it.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import and export catalog item deletions.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Export changes to a catalog since a certain date.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Stage catalogs, virtual catalogs, schema changes, and properties in the catalog data.

Yes

No

No

No

Incremental refresh of full-text index, and improved design for regenerating full-text indexes.

Yes

No

No

No

Import/export catalog data with XSD schema validation.

Yes

No

No

No

Import/export catalog data with XDR.

No (replaced with XSD format)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Property-centric import/export of catalog data to XML.

Yes

No

No

No

Element-centric import/export XML of Commerce Server 2000 XML schema.

No (replaced with property-centric format)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Catalog syndication and catalog exchange. Catalog data can be transformed to industry catalog formats, such as xCBL 3.0 and cXML.

Yes

No

No

No

Line-of-business (LOB) integration with legacy catalogs through BizTalk Server integration, Web services, and Message Queuing integration.

Yes

No

No

No

BizTalk Server 2006 interoperability.

Yes

No

No

No

Exchange catalog data with vendors by using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 or later versions.

No (upgrade to BizTalk Server 2006 is required)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Export catalog data to Data Warehouse for reporting.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Performance counters for each instance of Commerce Server installed for catalog pipeline.

Yes

No

No

No

Profiles System Features

The following table compares support for Profiles System features in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Full, native .NET Framework access to design-time and runtime APIs through a Web Service–Agent model.

Yes

No

No

No

Aggregate data across Active Directory directory service and SQL data stores.

Yes

No

No

No

ASP.NET 2.0 Profiles System and user authentication work with Active Directory Federation Service (ADFS).

Yes

No

No

No

AuthFilter user authentication.

Deprecated (replaced with ASP.NET 2.0)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Encryption of passwords and arbitrary properties.

Yes

No

No

No

Granular security applied through Windows Authorization Manager scopes, roles, tasks, and operations.

Yes

No

No

No

Active Directory group management using Business Desk.

No (replaced with Windows Authorization Manager)

Yes

Yes

No

Profile definition design interface.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Profile editing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes (limited to users and organizations)

Site term editing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multivalued profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Multivalued site terms.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Embedded profile editing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Generic profile editing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import and export profile schema.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Staging support for site terms.

Yes

No

No

No

LOB integration through BizTalk Server 2006 interoperability.

Yes

No

No

No

Export data to the Data Warehouse for reporting.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Performance counters for user profile management.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Marketing System Features

The following table compares support for Marketing System features in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Full, native .NET Framework access to design-time and run-time APIs by a Web Service–Agent model.

Yes

No

No

No

Service-oriented architecture that supports distributed management of Catalog and Inventory Systems and client connectivity.

Yes

No

No

No

Run-time integration for content targeting delivery through the Content Selection Framework (CSF).

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

APIs to programmatically manage ads, discounts, and direct mail items.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically manage campaign customers.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically manage lists of users for direct mailings.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically manage reference tables.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically search campaign items.

Yes

No

No

No

Windows Forms-based management UI (see Marketing Manager Features).

Yes

No

No

No

Business Desk-based management UI.

No (replaced with Windows Forms-based UI)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Granular security applied through Windows Authorization Manager scopes, roles, tasks, and operations.

Yes

No

No

No

Perform expression-based targeting by creating expressions that define the customers or context you want to target and the type of content you want to deliver.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Build target expressions based on a user’s organization profile and support targeting to any number of arbitrary profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Specify discount interaction policies to define combination, prioritization, and exclusion for campaign items.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Define complex target expressions that depend on other expressions.

Yes

No

No

No

Apply multiple discounts to an item or order and control the order in which discounts are applied.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Apply dollar-discount and percentage discounts to an item or an order and control the order in which the discounts are applied.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Flag whether an item can be discounted.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Run-time discount filtering.

Yes

No

No

No

Integration with Inventory System.

Yes

No

No

No

Coupon-enabled discounts.

Yes

No

No

No

Import, export, and generate coupons.

Yes

No

No

No

Direct Mailer can be deployed on a server that does not have SQL Server installed.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Direct Mailer can be deployed as a highly available clustered resource that takes advantage of Windows clustering.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Direct Mailer survives transient failures.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Integrated authentication for Direct Mailer in SQL Server.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Direct Mail based on target expressions.

Yes

No

No

No

Multilingual ads and discounts.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Multilingual Direct Mail subject lines.

Yes

No

No

No

Multilingual basket display string for discounts.

Yes

No

No

No

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to handle date/time zone conversions between client and server.

Yes

No

No

No

Clear inactive or expired campaign items from the database.

Yes

No

No

No

Staging support for marketing data and coupons/promotional codes.

Yes

No

No

No

Full or incremental updates of coupons/promotional codes during staging.

Yes

No

No

No

Refresh marketing data cache during staging.

Yes

No

No

No

Export data to Data Warehouse for reporting.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Performance counters for marketing campaigns and direct mail.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Orders System Features

The following table compares support for Orders System features in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Full, native .NET Framework access to design-time and run-time APIs through a Web Service–Agent model.

Yes

No

No

No

Extensible Orders System that enables extension of object and data models based on custom properties.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically search, retrieve, and delete baskets.

Yes

No

No

No

APIs to programmatically search, retrieve, and delete basket orders.

Yes

No

No

No

Service-oriented architecture that supports distributed management of the Catalog and Inventory Systems and client connectivity.

Yes

No

No

No

Mapped storage. The Orders System maps purchase orders to SQL tables so that you can mine purchase order data. XML mapping file maps logical properties to physical storage.

Yes

No

No

No

User-definable and strongly typed object model. Objects in the Orders System can be inherited, and completely new objects can be added.

Yes

No

No

No

New entities can be stored in the Orders database with appropriate extensions to the mapping file.

Yes

No

No

No

Orders System binary storage.

No (replaced with mapped storage)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Windows Forms-based management UI (see Customer and Orders Manager Features).

Yes

No

No

No

Business Desk-based management UI.

No (replaced with Windows Forms-based UI)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Granular security applied through Windows Authorization Manager scopes, roles, tasks, and operations.

Yes

No

No

No

Capture orders in baskets in preparation for order processing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Order persistence and calculation.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multiple baskets per user and named baskets to support gift cards, wish lists, repeating orders, and gift registry scenarios.

Yes

No

No

No

Enhanced data management with support for advanced searches and post-order capture processing to support customer service or order status inquiries.

Yes

No

No

No

Payment method and shipping method definition.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Customizable payment methods. UI to create new payment methods.

Yes

No

No

No

Process split-tender purchases (multiple payment methods for a single order) out of the box.

Yes

No

No

No

Process split shipments (multiple shipment addresses for a single order) out of the box.

Yes

No

No

No

Lookup by user ID and basket name.

Yes

No

No

No

Lookup by user ID.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Post-capture updates.

Yes

No

No

No

Marketing discount processing during checkout.

Yes

No

No

No

Support for shipping, tax, authorization, payment, fraud detection, and so on by using third-party components.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Business Processing Pipeline Features

The following table compares support for Business Processing Pipeline System features in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Pipeline component development for supported .NET Framework development platforms.

Yes

No

No

No

Extensible, flexible, customizable order processing.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Customize order, targeting, and merchandising processes.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Define and link the stages of a business process.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

High-precision currency conversion.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Multiple shipment handling.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Complex discount handling.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Pooled pipelines to increase performance.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Order processing pipelines to process either business-to-consumer (retail) orders or business-to-business (supplier) orders.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Content selection pipelines to select content to display to shoppers based on targeting expressions.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Event processing pipelines to record events related to the displayed content.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Direct mail pipelines to construct and deliver personalized e-mail or static content messages for direct mail campaigns.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Inventory pipelines for basket/checkout to evaluate stock-on-hand, updating inventory, and to calculate quantity that is in stock, back-ordered, or pre-ordered based on configurations.

Yes

No

No

No

Inventory pipeline to update quantity as part of a purchase operation.

Yes

No

No

No

Pipeline Editor.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Pipeline Component Registration tool.

Yes

No

No

No

Site Server 3.0 pipeline components and migration objects.

No (removed)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Business Management Applications Features

The following table summarizes the Business Management applications available in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server. The table also includes links to sections that contain the details of feature changes and additions to the Business Management applications in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server.

Application

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Catalog Manager (replaces Business Desk Catalogs module).

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Catalog and Inventory Schema Manager.

Yes

No

No

No

Customer and Orders Manager (replaces Business Desk Orders, Profiles, and Users modules).

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Marketing Manager (replaces Business Desk Campaigns module).

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Business Management Application Language Settings tool (lets you select the language to use when you are using the Commerce Server Business Management applications without affecting the language settings for the servers or Web sites).

Yes

No

No

No

Windows Authorization Manager. Provides extensible, granular security for each Business Management application UI element.

Yes

No

No

No

Business Desk Security.

No (replaced with Windows Authorization Manager)

Yes

Yes

No

Comparison of Features Shared Across Business Management Applications

The following table compares support for features that are shared across Commerce Server 2007 Business Management applications with shared features provided with Business Desk modules in earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Extensible user interface.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Enhanced role-based, fine-grained security through Windows Authorization Manager.

Yes

No

No

No

Business Desk Permissions security.

No (replaced with Windows Authorization Manager)

Yes

Yes

No

Security based on Windows Access Control Lists (ACLs).

No (replaced with Windows Authorization Manager)

No (replaced with Business Desk Security)

No (replaced with Business Desk Security)

Yes

Access control for individual Business Management applications.

Yes

No

No

No

Access control for individual Business Desk modules.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

List views. View search results or data objects. Sort objects based on a selected property.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Preview pane. View the properties of an object selected in the List View.

Yes

No

No

No

Select fields for sorting list views.

Yes

No

No

No

Task views to view and select tasks available for the selected object or view.

Yes

No

No

No

Status view that provides summary of task completion.

Yes

No

No

No

Simple search based on selected filters and full or partial name or property to find data objects.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Advanced search using Boolean expressions to find data objects.

Yes

No

No

No

Style sheets for different themes, including high contrast for accessibility.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Catalog Manager Features

The following table compares support for features provided by Commerce Server 2007 Catalog Manager with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Create multicurrency catalogs.

Yes

No

No

No

Create multilingual catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create and manage product definitions, property definitions, and catalog definitions.

No (replaced with Catalog and Inventory Schema Manager)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Tree grid view support to explore the catalog hierarchy and display objects alphabetically or sequentially.

Yes

No

No

No

Set catalog name and size restrictions.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create, edit, and delete catalog data, catalog sets, categories, and products.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Copy a product.

Yes

No

No

No

Define and modify base catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Define and modify virtual (or custom) catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Construct virtual catalogs by specifying include and exclude rules.

Yes

No

No

No

Catalog creation wizards:

  • New Catalog Set Wizard

  • New Category Wizard

  • New Product Wizard

  • New Virtual Product Catalog Wizard

  • Add an Existing Virtual Catalog Item Wizard

Yes

Yes

No

No

Create catalogs and catalog sets, add items to a catalog, and price products in a catalog.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Set product prices.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Define product variants.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Apply discount product prices.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create category hierarchies.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create and manage products, categories, catalogs, catalog sets, and product relationships.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Manage category and product relationships.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sequence data by defining the hierarchy of base and virtual catalogs, catalog sets, categories, and products.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Select fields for sequencing.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Designate the display order of products and product categories.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Import and export catalogs.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Full or incremental catalog import.

Yes

No

No

No

Import/export wizards:

  • Export Product Catalog Wizard

  • Import Product Catalog Wizard

Yes

Yes

No

No

Define and modify inventory catalogs.

Yes

No

No

No

Inventory catalog wizards:

  • Inventory Catalog Wizard

  • Export Inventory Catalog Wizard

Yes

No

No

No

Refresh catalog cache.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Refresh and publish catalogs to the Web site.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

List views. View search results or data objects. Sort objects based on a selected property.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Select fields for sorting. Select the fields to use for sorting a list view.

Yes

No

No

No

Preview pane. View the properties of an object selected in the List View.

Yes

No

No

No

Status. View a summary of information for the selected object.

Yes

No

No

No

Task view. View and select tasks available for the selected object.

Yes

No

No

No

Tree view. View and explore the catalog hierarchy. Display objects alphabetically or sequentially.

Yes

No

No

No

Simple search based on selected filters and full or partial name or property to find catalog data objects.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Advanced search using Boolean expressions to find products, catalog definitions, and other catalog data objects.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Refine a search request until the product is found.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Customer and Orders Manager Features

Feature comparisons are provided for the following two functional areas supported by the Commerce Server 2007 Customer and Orders Manager:

  • Site Terms and User Management

  • Order and Basket Management

Site Terms and User Management Features

The following table compares support for Site Terms and User Management features in Commerce Server 2007 with the Business Desk Profiles and Users modules available in earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Create new user objects. Add users to the Profiles database.

Yes

No

No

No

Create new address objects.

Yes

No

No

No

Create new site terms and site term groups.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Edit, organize, and delete site terms and site term groups.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Add a term or value to a site term.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Add a property that maps to a site term.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create new user and organizational profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create payment and address profiles.

Yes

No

No

No

Create generic profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create new profile definitions.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Add properties or a property group to a profile definition.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Add encrypted properties to a profile definition.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Embed a profile definition.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Publish profile definition changes to a Web site.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Find, copy, and edit profile definitions, and delete profile properties.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create, copy, find, edit, and delete a user or organizational profile.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create, copy, find, edit, and delete generic profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import a list of user profiles.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Reset a user password.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Order and Basket Management Features

The following table compares support for Order and Basket Management features in Commerce Server 2007 with the Business Desk Orders module available in earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Create, modify, enable/disable, and delete payment methods.

Yes

No

No

No

Create, modify, enable/disable, and delete shipping methods.

Yes

No

No

No

Add and edit location codes.

Yes (defined as site terms using Customers and Orders Manager)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Add and edit order status codes, country codes, or state/province codes.

Yes (defined as site terms using Customers and Orders Manager)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Customize shipping methods.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Add and edit tax rates.

Yes (defined in reference tables using Marketing Manager)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Review properties on an individual line item, order form in a purchase order, payment method, or payment collection.

Yes

No

No

No

Review and edit properties on a purchase order.

Yes

No

No

No

Find and delete baskets.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Find, sort, view, and delete orders.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Clear deleted baskets and orders from the Orders database.

Yes

No

No

No

Publish new or updated orders data on your Web site.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Marketing Manager Features

The following table compares support for the features provided in Commerce Server 2007 Marketing Manager with earlier versions of the Business Desk Campaigns and Discount Manager modules in Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Add coupons to discounts.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Export coupons.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Approve campaigns and discounts.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Schedule coupon/promotion code reservation tasks.

Yes

Yes

No

No

Define discount application policies.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Define reference tables to manage content sizes, industry codes, and page groups for your business model.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create, delete, and restore campaigns.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create ad and discount campaigns.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Marketing wizards:

  • Create New Advertisement Wizard

  • Create New Campaign Wizard

  • Create New Customer Wizard

  • Create New Discount Wizard

  • Create New Direct Mail Wizard

  • New List Wizard

Yes

No

No

No

Create target expressions and target groups.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create direct mail campaigns.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create and manage user lists for direct mail campaigns.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Start campaign changes on your Web site.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Generate campaign reports and export to List Manager.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Business Analytics Features

This section summarizes Commerce Server support for the following business intelligence features:

  • Analytics Reporting Features

  • Data Warehouse Features

Commerce Server 2007 does not support the Predictor and Segment Viewer functions of earlier releases of Commerce Server.

Analytics Reporting Features

The following table compares support for analytics reporting features provided in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of the Business Desk Reports modules in Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Analytics based on SQL Reporting Services.

Yes

No

No

No

Business Desk-based analytics.

No (replaced with SQL Reporting Services)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Office Web Controls and Pivot charts.

No (replaced with SQL Reporting Services)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Reporting Life Cycle Management. Full life cycle management for all Commerce Server reports—including authoring, scheduling, versioning, snapshotting, access controls, and rendering—are provided using Microsoft SQL Reporting Services.

Yes

No

No

No

Stand-alone business analytics installation.

No

Yes

Yes

No

Remote access to OLAP cubes (requires SQL Server 2000 or 2005 Standard or Enterprise Edition).

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create a new report from scratch.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Customize a predefined report.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Run user profile reports.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Run marketing campaign reports.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Export reports as lists to the Profiles System or Marketing System.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Group published reports.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Report drill-through capability.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Across-domain reporting.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Create prediction models to analyze usage behavior and display product recommendations to a site user.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Create segmentation models to analyze behavior by population segment.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Affinity lists.

No

Yes

Yes

No

Export segment model as a list.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Data Warehouse Features

The following table compares support for Data Warehouse features provided in Commerce Server 2007 with earlier versions of Commerce Server.

Feature

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Data Warehouse extensibility.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Data Warehouse Import Wizard.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Data Warehouse site package file to create and configure new Commerce Server Data Warehouses.

Yes

No

No

No

Data Warehouse Configurator tool to create and configure new Commerce Server Data Warehouses.

No (replaced with Data Warehouse site package file)

Yes

Yes

No

Import campaign data.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Import user data.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Set log file restart parameters.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Set connection retry parameters for all DTS tasks.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Delete imported logs on a rotating basis.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Run a DTS task for all sites in a Data Warehouse (for relevant DTS tasks).

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Run a DTS task for a single site in a Data Warehouse.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Schedule DTS packages.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Display import progress data.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Use log file masking.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import cookieless user data.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import Unicode characters.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Import UTF-8 log files.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Data Warehouse schema diagram.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

DTS Tasks

The following table compares support for Data Transformation Services (DTS) tasks across versions of Commerce Server.

DTS task

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Configuration synchronization.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Web server log import.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Catalog data import.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Campaign data import.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

IP resolution.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Profile data import.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Transaction data import.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Data deletion.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Report preparation.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Report caching.

No

Yes

Yes

No

Administration and Operations Tools Features

The following table summarizes the administration and operations tools available in Commerce Server 2007 and previous releases of Commerce Server. For more information about these tools, see Administration and Operations Tools.

Tool

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Commerce Server Manager.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Profile Schema Manager.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Commerce Server Staging.

Yes

No

No

No

Commerce Server 2007 Configuration Wizard.

Yes

No

No

No

Commerce Server 2007 Migration Wizard.

Yes

No

No

No

Commerce Server Site Packager.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Data Warehouse Import Wizard.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Commerce Server Data Transformation Services (DTS) Tasks.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Predictor Resource.

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Volume Shadow Copy Service Writer.

Yes

No

No

No

SQL Enterprise Manager.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

SQL Server Management Studio or SQL Server 2005 Management Studio Express.

Yes

No

No

No

Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Windows Server Active Directory Users and Computers.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Windows Server Event Viewer.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Windows Server Performance Monitor.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Development Platform and Integration Features

The following table summarizes the development tools and platform features available in Commerce Server 2007 and earlier releases of Commerce Server.

Tool

2007 Editions

2002 EE, Feature Pack 1

2002 Enterprise Edition

2000

Full integration with Visual Studio 2008.

Yes

No

No

No

Full integration with Visual Studio 2005.

Yes

No

No

No

Full support for Visual Web Developer Express Edition for Web development and Project Creation Wizard.

Yes

No

No

No

Commerce Server Project Wizard.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Visual Basic, including Web Developer Express Edition, pipeline development.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Visual C++, including Web Developer Express Edition, pipeline development.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Visual C#, including Web Developer Express Edition, pipeline development.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Full support for ASP.NET 2.0 Web applications.

Yes

No

No

No

Service-oriented architecture to support development and extension of Web services.

Yes

No

No

No

Support for ASP.NET Web applications.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

.NET Framework.

Yes

No

No

No

BizTalk Server Adapters to support integration with LOB systems.

Yes

No

No

No

Starter Site.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Solution site packages.

No (replaced with Starter Site).

Yes

Yes

Yes

SDK and tools.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

See Also

Other Resources

Introducing Commerce Server 2007

Development Platform and Commerce Server Systems

SDK Items and Tools

Business Management Applications

Administration and Operations Tools

Deployment Tools

Removed or Deprecated Features

Getting Started with Commerce Server

Commerce Server Editions