Web based verses Web enabled solutions - Answering the question of 'Dot Com' versus ' Not Com'

Mark Hatfield
Convergent Group
6399 South Fiddler’s Green Circle
Suite 600
Greenwood Village, CO 80111

Guy Waterman
iMedeon
11605 Haynes Bridge Road
Alpharetta, GA 30004

Abstract
The explosion of the Internet's popularity to process business based, ecommerce transactions has led many individuals to believe that simply putting a web browser on an existing enterprise application will automatically generate value for their company. However, leveraging information technology to gain market advantage requires a deeper understanding of the technology and of the business processes to which it will be applied in order to reap the potential rewards they possess. The differences between web-based and web-enabled applications may be subtle for now, but the differences are significant and will become more apparent over time. Web-based applications provide the basis for more cost-effective solutions that result in creation of greater value for an organization than other alternatives provide. From connectivity of data and support of popular computing devices, to the total cost of ownership benefit paradigm, web-based applications are the only real choice for companies adopting solutions for new mobile business environments.

Mobile and wireless Internet solutions are now seen as an obvious marriage of technologies that enable companies to extend business process reengineering to a portion of the user population that up to this point have been untouchable. Mobile and field workforces, particularly those in the “blue collar” world, are notoriously independent and have traditionally not welcomed change. Failed mobile computing projects litter the IT world, but not for the reasons most would suspect. Traditional mobile projects did not have the technical infrastructure to support a successful rollout. Rugged/durable computing devices to date have been expensive and under- powered when compared to back office desktop computers. Integration issues between custom-developed, mobile applications and mainframe/client-server systems delayed implementations and have not delivered benefits trapped in field service organizations. Ongoing costs associated with the maintenance of these proprietary systems limit their life span. More important, the cost of customizing each of these systems to specific user needs causes many companies to abandon their investment in these once promising projects. Overall, traditional mobile computing projects do not adequately address the issues surrounding Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of mobile field service solutions, the cost and the quality of integrating data, nor supporting the standards that enable companies to take advantage of emerging technologies.

When comparing the advantages of web-based applications versus non web-based or web-enabled applications, TCO issues are frequently referenced. Maintainability, configurability, and scalability all contribute to the cost of implementing and supporting applications. Web-based applications provide unique advantages with regard to these qualities. Maintainability is addressed through the ability to maintain and update software (if any) that exists on mobile or remote devices. Web-based solutions can accomplish this task through “pushing” software updates to the client as the user signs on. The software self-installs and this process is typically unseen by the user and allows the company to eliminate the complications of coordinating updates of software throughout a disparate user environment. Overall version standardization and support is accomplished through this process.

User configurability usually presents an opposing force to standardization of software solutions. Usually a tradeoff exists when systems become more configurable at the user level; the more customized, the more difficult they are to maintain. Web-based solutions provide users the ability to configure their view of the solution and to maintain those profiles in a centrally stored, user configuration table. Users are able to tailor their desktop views usually without the assistance of an information technology professional or software vendor and more important, these changes do not compromise the system’s integrity. User profiles established at this level are available whenever and wherever a user establishes a connection to the system. Therefore, if a user establishes a configuration at work and then accesses the system from a computer at home via Internet connection, their personalized configuration “follows them”. This type of flexibility increases user acceptance of the solution while keeping cost of ownership low.

Scalability is accomplished in a number of ways. First, most web-based solution performance is based on the computing power deployed behind it. From one to thousands of users, web-based applications provide companies access to applications at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. Now, solutions traditionally reserved for Fortune 1000 (tier one) companies are available to mid- and lower-tiered companies. The reemergence of application solutions providers (ASP) and application service management (ASM) providers enables users to effectively share the cost of the computing solution with users from across many entities. The impact of leveling the field with regard to access to powerful, automated tools will increase competition in the market and potentially fuel movement in the competitive position of players in various service markets.

The next issue surrounding web-based applications is the communication of data in the form of business objects. In web-based applications the common format is contained in XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents. This method of communication is superior to its predecessors in that XML documents are self-describing transactions. For example, a purchase order contains the information necessary to identify it and its contents as a P.O. The benefit XML provides is effectively exchanging information between business objects. Organizations like RosettaNet have made tremendous strides in defining industry specific standards for many business transactions. Creating standards and making them available to all participants in the market opens the world of eCommerce to many players creating competition and fueling gains in business efficiency. One weakness of the XML strategy and organizations like RosettaNet is that they have focused primarily on commerce based transactions (P.O., ASN, invoices) that support inter-company commerce. However, intra-company transactions such as work orders, inventory issues, and employee update transactions have been largely ignored. Companies that establish standards for these transaction sets and impose them on the marketplace stand to gain significant competitive advantage in the near term and potentially establish a market leadership position in the longer term.

It is true that XML is not an exclusive technology of web-based solutions. Web-enabled solutions are attempting to reap the rewards of web-based business commerce by adopting XML documents as a way to communicate with other systems. Although a good strategy to address specific transactions, non web-based solutions (commonly referred to as “not com” systems) are simply attempting to delay the execution of their end of life product strategies. These systems selectively apply the use of XML documents to the portions of their systems that support inter-company interfaces, largely ignoring the benefits application-to-application data acquisition provides. Web-based solutions built on a strong XML document exchange base that is pervasive throughout their solutions will be in a position to more quickly take advantage of the wealth of information being made available on the web every day. “Not coms” also face the constraining bottleneck XML translator programs create in their architecture. Much like the case C++ versus Java argues, XML enabled strategies (like C++) are designed to link the present to the past; XML based strategies (like Java) are designed to link the present to the future.

Finally, web-based solutions provide users device independence. Moving at “Web speed” requires solutions to be able to quickly adapt to new and emerging technologies. Providing a single code base from which to deploy solutions on devices such as personal computers, handheld devices, and web phones enable solution developers to quickly deploy solutions providing consumers a greater range of capabilities at acceptable costs. Non web-based solutions typically choose proprietary code bases or antiquated solution strategies when deploying their solutions. These approaches will not work in the web-based society currently being created. Java-based solutions provide the agility companies need to remain current with the ever-increasing pace of a web-based world. Consumers demand solutions that web-based technologies provide, and the companies responding to these demands will succeed, while the others will become case studies for what went wrong.

Conclusion
Web-enabled solutions do not cost effectively support the benefits that web-based solutions bring to business. Companies can attempt to force XML integration on “not com” solutions to gain the advantages application-to-application integration provides at a significant investment. In fact, continued investment in the mature “not com” architectures will not reap the returns for developers and users alike. The end of life strategies for “not com” solutions are already being deployed for these platforms. Leveraged investments are being made at an increasing pace in web-based solutions of all types. Technology does not stand still and is progressing in “Webtime”. Not having web-based solutions erodes profits as companies continue to prop up aging infrastructures and hinders an organization’s ability to reinvent oneself at the ever-increasing pace their customers demand.