Does anyone actually understand this conversation between Neo and the 'Architect' of the Matrix?
If so, please feel free to drop me a line and educate me.
As far as my limited understanding goes, Neo is (and I'm quoting here), "the sum of the remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix."
He is also described in rather unflattering terms as, "the eventuality of an anomaly which despite my sincerest efforts, I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision."
Charming.
All I can say is that the old architect should have used uniPaaS then. At least that way he could have avoided all the hard coding that comes with typical programming languages and instead he could have focused more on testing the damn thing to get it just right BEFORE he went to full deployment.
You see, uniPaaS is not a programming language, or even a software platform. It's an application platform. What's the difference? Unlike code, a 'platform' provides pre-compiled functionality, or basically, pre-written code. Platform environments therefore speed up development.
Of what? Well, if it's a software platform such as Java then its all about writing applications. Any sort of applications, whether they are for business or leisure. But for me, the key word here is 'write'. With an application platform on the other hand, the writing is kept to a minimum. And the focus is usually on a specific type of application - in this case those designed for business.
Instead of writing and more writing, developers are allowed to bypass the technical coding chores and focus fully on the more creative side of their job - building business applications with optimized business logic and processes. And 'creative' focus for them translates into more 'business focus' for those they work for - i.e. the enterprise. And that means more happy customers.
Or the end of the human race - if you want to continue with that Matrix analogy...but then again, who knows WHAT he really meant?
Building the Client front-end of a mobile application is relatively simple when compared to the complexity needed to tie front-end transactions with an enterprise's many back-end systems.
Sometimes it's simply not enough for a business, in say, the manufacturing or distribution sector to deploy a mobile applications for their staff with access to a single back-end system - let's say the SAP ERP system.
Of course, any customer part or product request must begin with the ERP system - in this case checking to see if the part is in stock. However, the work doesn't end there.
The customer's request and transaction must also be synchronized with the company's on-premise CRM system or on-demand account (such as Salesforce.com). Then an order and an invoice must be raised, and then only finally a shipping report sent to the customer.
So it's all very well having a smart mobile application featuring the latest in Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology that will provide customized SAP functionality.
What's even more important is that your mobile application integrates SAP with your other back-end systems whether they are on-site such as SAP R/3 or SAP Business One, Oracle, IBM, or Lotus, or on-demand such as Google or Salesforce.com.
Metadata-based integration tools such as Magic Software's iBOLT will synchronize your mobile application (that you built using the uniPaaS application platform!) with the other diverse applications within the enterprise using a single skill-set that pre-programs many of the common and repetitive developing tasks that otherwise would require greater time and cost to manually code.
So if you were using SAP previously, not only do you now get a mobile application that gives you anytime/anywhere access plus customizable features (such as different languages) designed specifically to make your life easier, but you also get broader business control and a full view of your business activity - all via that one tiny screen..and with a little help from iBOLT..
A number of people have been asking what sort of applications uniPaaS can develop. Well, the answer is a lot!
uniPaaS is a highly versatile application platform (note - it's not a programming language - more on that below) that can deliver virtually any type of application, front-end or back-end.
You can develop desktop client applications, web browser applications, service oriented services like SOAP web services, J2EE services, or even local COM servers.
You can also develop RIA applications for both desktop and mobile. RIA applications are fully functional desktop applications that are deployed over the internet and work over an HTTP connection with an enterprise server. RIA applications are installed automatically and are updated automatically whenever those updates are available.
Here are some screen-shots to illustrate..
uniPaaS RIA application running on a Windows Mobile phone:
uniPaaS RIA application based on the .NET framework and deployed over the internet:
A uniPaaS browser based HTML application, that you serve with a browser only:
A uniPaaS Windows based Client/Server application, that is deployed in a local area network:
The fact that uniPaaS is a 'platform' rather than simply a 'programming language' means that it provides versatile and powerful development facilities that are more closely related to the logic of real business. And it doesn't require the developer to directly access the low level APIs of the underlying infrastructure.
This platform versatility comes from an 'information-centric' design that features a specially made metadata engine. (white paper about this here)This engine provides capabilities and functionalities specifically for business information, whether operational, financial or management, as opposed to many other tools out there that are more generic in scope, and therefore less 'information' focused.
The issue of mobile application technology is being raised more and more in the enterprise business space. Our Managing Director for the UK, Dave Akka, writes a nice piece here in the Financial Times, explaining the business case for companies looking to implement a sensible mobile strategy for their workforce.
For further reading on the latest Mobile Enterprise Application develompents have a look at our latest White Paper
In other news, many people are talking about Microsoft's announcement that they are releasing a new Cloud platform called Azure.
For Magic Software, who are an application platform vendor for RIA, mobile and SaaS, it can only be a positive move. Microsoft providing a Cloud enabled operating system tends to confirm Magic Software's own technology vision - that SaaS is here to stay and can convey some significant benefits to enterprise companies looking to hire-in advanced CRM, ERP or other business functionality that they would otherwise have to build themselves.
My only concern is that SaaS remains not an entirely clear-cut decision for ISVs who already operate and earn the bulk of their revenues from licenced Client/Server applications.
For ISVs and other software providers it therefore remains important that they can run both SaaS and Client/Server applications together - cost-effectively. For that, Magic Software's uniPaaS platform is uniquely designed to allow ISV's to run both SaaS and Client/Server models for the same development effort and from the same single code-base.
This way ISVs are not forced to choose between one model and other - but rather can cost-effectively run both in parallel and maintain their options open for the future.
A nice little video showing what the average person knows about the browser.
Of course, if you're a business running your own tailor-made internet application - hopefully you won't need to know any more than them!
That's because uniPaaS applications are available via the internet - but don't run on, and are not dependent upon the browser! So developers struggling to find a way to secure their internet application against common browser-based malware can check that problem off their list straight away.
They also don't have to worry about making sure their application works in the plethora of different browsers out there - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, whatever...
So enterprises looking to gain from the benefits of internet applications without the risks and development hurdles involved can now have their cake and eat it.
Well, you've all waited patiently for it to happen and now its here.
The crazy cats video that's been making such a splash on YouTube has now been updated with the 'correct' cat-laguage translation.
See the video here.
All thanks to my collegue Ofer Spiegel for taking the time out of his busy schedule to translate what they were really saying.
Enjoy.
Ned Batchelder writes an interesting post on the problems of having to test websites in multiple version of Internet Explorer:
"One of the banes of a web developer's existence is the need to test their site in Internet Explorer, not just once, but in multiple versions of Internet Explorer. These days, IE's 6, 7, and 8 are pretty much required. Because of their tight integration with Windows, it's difficult to run all three side by side."
To get around the problem he mentions a nice little tool called Xenocode, which is based on application-level virtualization. The tool virtualizes the operating system services seen by your application and this way the code seems to be running on program files directories that doesn't actually exist.
Nice. But the obvious question is why bother with additional tools to 'get around' the problem of multiple broswer types (not just IE 6, 7, & 8, but also Safari and Firefox!) when you can have an internet application that's not dependent on the browser at all!
What happens when tomorrow IE introduces a new feature that doesn't suit your application? For many business applications, IE is simply not suitable at all. After all, the browser was invented for 'browsing' - not for the storage and manipulation of large business data-sets and the demands of power users.
The nice thing about applications developed in uniPaaS is that they don't rely on the browser at all as a sandbox. The uniPaaS RIA Client module IS the sandbox - and it's specially designed and optimized for real business applications - unlike the browser.
So you can effectively operate drill-down screens, context menus, pop-up screens, pull-down menus, and the rest. There's also no need to override IE's own menus just to create your own.
Better to do it once and do it right I say. Rather than constantly patch or supplement a tool that's not right for the job.
We've spoken here a number of times about the benefits of using a metadata approach when building and deploying business apps. To recap, a metadata approach is based upon a pre-compiled business logic engine that enables you to cut out much of the hard-coding from the development process and build your application with a single tool, from end to end i.e. From Client to Server using a single programming language.
Here's an illustration that nicely shows the difference in development flows between uniPaaS (an end-to-end development and deployment tool) v.s. doing it the usual way (a combination of Adobe Flex for the Client end, and C# for the Server end).
Unitary Development: uniPaaS (Client & Server)
And here's how it's normally done - the hard way!
Multi-tier Development: Adobe Flex (Client) & C# (Server)
When development involves buying 2 seperate programming languages, going through lots of low-level programming, and the challenge of gathering and co-ordinating 2 seperate programming teams, there is simply less chance of the end result being deployed cheaper or faster - not to mention the fact that there's less chance the application will fully meet corporate standards and expectations.
If you're a CIO, you've probably been asked to secure your internet applications against internet hacking at some point.
But that's becoming an increasingly tall order with security threats to internet based applications on the rise, with the strong growth being attributed to factors such as new viruses, malware and hacking attacks.
And it doesn't seem to matter which browser you use, whether it's Internet Explorer, FireFox (actually more vulnerable than IE, contrary to popular belief), Safari or others. Even the latest versions such as Internet Explorer 7, which claims a whole new set of security features probably won't be able to keep up with the robbers who always seem to be a step ahead of the cops.
According to security blogger Hon Lau: "In this day and age, the old advice of avoiding certain types of Web site and content on the Internet is no longer enough when even trusted sites have been known to be compromised in the past."
"Making sure your Web browser and other applications are fully patched, your Antivirus and Firewall software are running and up to date with the latest definitions sets and using a bit of street smarts should go a long way towards keeping you out of harm's way."
But all this security updating and maintenance is surely going to add up and put an additional strain on IT budgets. What if you could avoid the browser altogether, and yet still run a fully internet available business application?
Well, I only recently discovered that uniPaaS covers the security issue in two fantastic ways. Here's how:
- Since the uniPaaS RIA Client is an independent application and not browser based, it's not subjected to the security issues and attacks that browsers suffer from! Also, the message format and protocol used to communicate between the Server and Client in uniPaaS are proprietary and secured.
This means that a uniPaaS application runs on the internet, feels like a desktop app in terms of performance, AND has the security of a desktop app as well!
- I also found out something else: The uniPaaS Client does not directly access any back-end resources such as databases. Actually, it only communicates with the Magic Broker. This means that an enterprise company can isolate their users - preventing them from having direct access to the application database - and thus avoid potential employee data theft or corruption.
These are big issues with the global network security market predicted to reach about $9.5 billion by 2015.
uniPaaS could potentially change all that. Now I just have to get people to hear about it! Anyone have any ideas??
What happens when you combine 'service' economies with 'information' economies?
You get a growing demand for 'information services'.
That's what Professor Uday Karmarkar describes in the above video where he lists these two factors; 'services' and 'information' as the dominant growth trends occuring in our business economies today.
And what better example of this 'service industralization' than SaaS - Software, (which is really an information enabler), packaged as-a-Service.
For businesses to stay ahead then in the coming years it's vital that they understand the shifts that are occuring in business models with the move to the automation of services by software and 'let the customer do it' style business operations.
In both cases its seems pretty obvious to me that there's going to be a growing need for software platforms that will enable fast and cost-effective delivery of such on-demand models in turbulent times along with business integration tools that aid the 'standardization of information' and migration into 'business process engineering' that Professor Karmarkar describes further on in his talk.