Enterprise Application Services
Friday, November 16, 2007
Legacy Applications Migration
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Chris_Young]Chris Young
One of the most common problems encountered by our clients is how to deal with so called "legacy" applications. Often the applications are operating well in dealing with the original business requirements however they may be suffering from an inability to handle rapid growth or to facilitate and support changing business requirements.
Additional issues plaguing these application may be increasing difficulty in finding staff with the necessary technical experience, a lack of up-to-date documentation and ad-hoc addition of new functionality which has not maintained the original architectural design.
Building a new application from scratch is a major undertaking that may squander the investment in analysis and implementation of business rules and collection of enterprise data encapsulated in the existing system. Finding a third-party solution is time consuming and costly and may falter simply because there is no "off-the-shelf" replacement for the existing system.
We have found that a reliable and proven solution to this dilemma is to use a structured approach to migrating legacy applications onto flexible, scalable environments. This methodology is broken into three independent phases, and can be summarised as:
Phase I - Define & Architect:
The first phase of the methodology reviews the current state of the legacy application and maps out a path to migration.
1. Document. The starting point is a comprehensive up-to-date understanding of what the functions the application currently provides, what data is utilised and how is it stored, the business rules and assumptions encapsulated into the application and what process flows are automated.
2. Collect Requirements. Determine the key functional requirements including business needs, performance and scalability targets and any specific dependencies and restrictions.
3. Analyse Gaps. Using the map of the target requirements created above, identify the major enhancements or additions to be applied during the migration process.
4. Architect. A detailed roadmap is produced which outlines the steps that will be taken to move from the existing system to the ideal solution.
Phase II - Migrate:
Once the current state has been documented and a detailed roadmap has been produced, we move to the implementation of the migration strategy.
5. Modularise. Each new modular component is created with a well-defined abstract interface and a clear, logically defined business function. This creates a "services" model in which new or changed services can be deployed rapidly.
6. Model. Information Models are primarily a record of the interaction between applications and the business processes, which support and drive an enterprise.
7. Integrate. By utilising an Enterprise Services Bus (ESB) architecture we provide an enabling platform to support integration of the new service modules into the legacy architecture.
8. Migrate and Extend. The ESB architecture provides a framework for implementing the necessary "service interfaces" that enable data to be accessed and updated as necessary between the two parallel environments.
9. Test. As each new element of the system is modularised and integrated with the Enterprise Services Bus it is then tested through a series of business and system test cycles.
Phase III - Extend:
Once the application is migrated to the new architecture, new services can be added more easily.
10. Migrate and Extend. The ESB architecture provides an extensible framework for implementing new services into the application environment.
11. Test. Each new service is tested to ensure it meets functional, performance and scalability criteria through a series of business and system test cycles.
Rather than waiting years for a "big bang" replacement which may never succeed and which will invariably be outdated even before its arrival, this methodology reduces operational and project risk by delivering incremental improvements in functionality as well as the scalability, flexibility and supportability of the application.
Chris Young is the founder of White Water Consulting ( http://www.whitewater.com.au) and is a senior consultant with a broad knowledge and experience in financial services, change management and information technology. His areas of focus include delivering business-aligned IT strategy and implementing best practices in process improvement, project management and software development process. White Water Consulting provides practical solutions to designing and implementing information technology strategy. By remaining independent of solutions and solution providers White Water Consulting can concentrate on your actual business needs and recommend strategies that are pragmatic and cost effective.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Young http://EzineArticles.com/?Legacy-Applications-Migration&id=794096
Posted By: Illusion Technologies
http://www.illusiontechnologies.com
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 4:22 AM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Thursday, November 15, 2007
What Are Hosted Applications?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Martin_Day]Martin Day
As access to the Internet becomes more widespread with faster, more reliable and 'always on' connections becoming the norm the growth of applications using the hosted application model continues to expand.
Although hosted applications will not suit every situation, or every customer, they offer many individuals and organizations, as well as the application manufacturers' themselves, considerable benefits over the locally installed application.
What Is A Hosted Application?
A hosted application, also known as Internet-based application, web-based application, online application and Application Service Providers (ASPs) are software applications where the software resides on servers that are accessed through the Internet instead of the more traditional software that is installed on either a local server or on individual PC's.
The thin client concept is nothing new but advances in Internet connectivity have allowed the application to move from a local server to a server on the Internet.
Example of hosted applications would be Salesforce.com that provides customer relationship management facilities, Netsuite offering all-in-one business management applications and SurveyGalaxy.com that provides their customers with an enterprise survey and questionnaires application.
What Are The Benefits?
Reduced costs, instant deployment, easier to maintain and reduced administration are among some of the main benefits.
Low Maintenance
With hosted applications the hardware and software is the responsibility of the vendor with the client only having to maintain access to the Internet. As there is no software to download a hosted application can be made instantly available across an entire organization even where the organization has multiple regional and international offices.
As there is no software the considerable time and resources required for periodic updates is also completely eliminated.
Reduced Cost
The need to license software through a 'per user', 'per concurrent user', 'per server' or 'site' license has been eliminated. Although some hosted applications still do charge 'per user' many have taken the opportunity to charge on a 'usage' and/or 'period' basis meaning that the customer does not have to estimate the number of licenses that will be required, nor install and pay for full licenses that may only be used by some employees occasionally.
This hosted application model also allows the smaller organization and sole trader access to applications written using advanced software development tools and that utilize sophisticated database technology and high-end servers. The capital investment of the hardware and software as well as the security, backup and server maintenance cost are all the responsibility of the vendor.
Minimal Risk
Many hosted applications require no long term commitment from their customers. New customers can often test hosted applications either through a free introduction offer or with minimal risk using a Pay-As-You-Go model. If after trialing the hosted application the customer finds it unsuitable then they can simply stop using the service.
Access
Because the application software and the data is stored on the Internet server the application and data is available to the authorized client once they have logged on from anywhere there is Internet access. The customer can now work anywhere in the office environment, from remote offices or from their home or hotel without the need to download their work or synchronize with portable devices.
Integration
For organizations that have legacy systems from different suppliers running different operating systems the hosted application will provide an integrated solution to any system that supports a standard Internet browser including Windows, Unix and Macs.
Support
The hosted application vendors benefit by not having to maintain multiple version numbers or individual maintenance and licensing agreements. New updates are installed centrally negating the need for expensive roll outs. For many applications the need for version numbers is eliminated as updates are made incrementally bringing the benefits to the customer without having to bundle new features up into a new periodic version release. In some cases a user can request a new feature in the morning that can be developed, tested and deployed globally by the afternoon.
The Concerns
Internet access
New communication technology is able to bring high speed Internet connectivity to more and more remote places but there are still some regions where internet access is limited or not available.
In some cases such as mobile workers although high speed Internet connectivity is available the cost both in terms of connectivity charges and equipment may, at least in the short term, prove to be prohibitive.
Security
As with everything to do with the Internet security is a justified concern. There is no simple 'one size fits all' solution to the security issue and a lot will depend on the specific hosted application and the nature of the data.
With online banking and shopping becoming common place the vendor should be able to provide their clients with sufficient confidence that the data is secure and that any private information remains private.
Hosted applications will normally operate a login procedure ensuring that only those that are authorized have access. The more sensitive the data, the more sophisticated the login procedure.
A good data host will strictly enforce the stated wishes of their customers and ensure that data is not available or released to anyone that is not legally entitled to see it and they will adopt the latest security measures available to prevent unauthorized access.
There may be some areas such as automatic logins from known PC's and the use of cookies that although they don't necessary represent a significant risk could present a risk under certain circumstances, such as gaining access to a private account through the automatic login using an unattended PC. Although strictly speaking the customer's responsibility the customer should be made aware of the risks so that they can take action to safeguard their own system.
Although security is a concern in some circumstances private data may prove to be more secure than it would be on a private network with less sophisticated security measures or in an environment where there is a risk from within.
Vendor Lock-In
As with all software applications there is a risk that a customer could become locked-in to paying costly monthly subscriptions to maintain access to their historic data. To counter this some applications will allow the data to be downloaded or allow customer to maintain access to their data for a reasonable time free of charge.
Control
Unlike a local application the hardware and software is under the control of a third party. This is a justifiable concern although not too dissimilar to the telephone provider supplying and maintaining the communications equipment and there are considerable incentives for the vendors to ensure high availability and reliability since their business depends on it.
In Summary
Benefits
No vendor installation or upgrades required
Low start-up costs
Minimal Risk, no long term commitment
Backups and viruses responsibility of the vendor
Hardware and software server maintenance vendor's responsibility
Investment in local hardware & software reduced
No need to synchronized data with multiple devices
Access to data available globally through any internet connection
Reduced software licensing costs
Concerns
Lack of Internet availability
Security
Possibility of vendor lock-in
Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy a hosted application that provides an enterprise application to create, design and publish surveys online. For more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Day http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Are-Hosted-Applications?&id=83696
Posted By: Illusion Technologies
http://www.illusiontechnologies.com
Labels: database programmers, designers in asia, e-business consultancy, ecommerce solutions, internet solution providers, online marketing and promotion, software programmers
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 2:03 AM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Ecommerce and the Power of Belief
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Scott_Lindsay]Scott Lindsay
The Polar Express is a delightful story that infuses the simplicity of Christmas with an element of faith. Children ride the fabled express in an effort to reclaim trust in something they no longer believe in.
A pivotal point is evident at the end of the story when a little boy says, “I believe” after steadfastly denying the existence of Santa. The magical world of childhood reopens for the boy and we are left with the very warm fuzzies the author hoped we would feel.
Whether by DVD or by book this story is shared each holiday season to the delight of children everywhere.
I think this movie and/or story should be read/seen by everyone who decides to venture into the world of ecommerce.
It is possible (and even probable) for business owners to become a bit jaded in their view of a new business venture. If they have been part of business startups in the past they can treat business and, well, business. They can lack the passion they need to infuse their startup with something more than tried, tested and proven methods.
Sometimes a business startup will only make sense in context of the heart that is evident in the personality stamp of passion.
Yes, business is about calculated risk, business models and executive foresight, but without passion the business may be more cookie cutter than maverick.
Perhaps that is one of the biggest difference between the heart of those who really “believe” in the entrepreneurial idea they are pursuing and those who simply act in response to numbers.
That’s not to say a more corporate approach can’t work, but the reason many small businesses hang in there is because the owner “believes” so much in the product or service that they will passionately pursue their belief even if it leads to a failed startup.
One approach can seem cold and calculating while the other is new territory with no map in sight. It may seem that knowing everything about what you’re doing is a better approach, but this approach takes the personal and makes it something much less.
I tend to believe that a more corporate approach only works when team building occurs. Where individuals with complimentary gifts can make the new startup personal. If this happens the team can infuse passion into the most sterile startup.
Ecommerce is an arena that is perfect for exploration and discovery. It is a place where belief thrives and prospers. Ecommerce is a place for brave people to bring the faith of a child and imagine the impossible as possible and then prove the unbelievers wrong.
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: http://www.highpowersites.com
Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Lindsay http://EzineArticles.com/?Ecommerce-and-the-Power-of-Belief&id=783489
Labels: designers in asia, ecommerce solutions, live audio and video streaming technology, macromedia, multimedia, Nasik, software programmers
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 2:34 AM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Friday, November 2, 2007
Enterprise Security for Financial Services: Access and Identity
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alexander_Gordon]Alexander Gordon
Security is a major issue for companies providing financial services. The nature of security threats to such companies is mostly of two kinds, identity and access. Financial institutions need to monitor the access to crucial data, and see to it that there is no fraud committed through impersonation.
While taking care of security issues, financial sectors must also keep in mind costs, maintenance, and updates etc.
Enterprise Security: Access and Identity:
Identity and access management is about applying the right technology to security applications. Today, security is about automation, aligning products, platforms, and utilizing professional services. From isolated systems to integrated security solutions, enterprise security has come a long way.
Security Basics:
Here are some things to keep in mind when building an enterprise security system.
1) Overheads:
Consider the cost of the application, maintenance, and whether it will help your business become more productive.
2) Quality:
Can the system enforce a planned password policy? Will it be able to restrict certain kinds of access to certain users?
3) Use:
Is the security service easy to use? Can it be accessed from a central location?
Installing an Enterprise Security System:
Setting up a security system is not easy and it involves:
• Aligning technology and the functioning of the organization
• Access based on the identity of a person
• Having a strategy in place before installing the system
• Centralized access and controls
• Reducing operational complexity
Enterprise Security: Financial Services Audit
Before setting up an enterprise security service, you need to go in for a comprehensive financial services audit. This will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your security system. The audit should ideally touch on the following areas.
1) GAP Analysis:
This will map the state of security preparedness of your company.
2) Risk Analysis:
Do a review of the existing threats to your financial services.
3) Security Assessment:
Find out any flaws in the security system.
4) Compliance to Regulations:
See if the security system complies with various regulations.
5) Remedial Measures:
Suggest ways to improve flawed security applications.
Enterprise Security: Other Issues
Apart from identity and access, other issues that you may need to discuss while going in for a security application are:
1) Malware attacks on your network.
2) Spyware and Trojan horses.
Hiring the right security service provider is crucial if you wish to guard against the many security threats that can cripple the financial services of your company. There are a number of service providers that will help you plan a strong line of defense, identify and rectify the flaws in your security applications, and help with the maintenance and updating of the system. You simply need to select the right one.
Alexander Gordon is a writer for [http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com/]http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The [http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com]Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the [http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com/public/department30.cfm]free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.
Business Owners all across the country are joining "The Community of Small Business Owners” to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexander_Gordon http://EzineArticles.com/?Enterprise-Security-for-Financial-Services:-Access-and-Identity&id=392479
Posted By: Illusion Technologies
http://www.illusiontechnologies.com
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 12:54 AM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
What Are Hosted Applications?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Martin_Day]Martin Day
As access to the Internet becomes more widespread with faster, more reliable and 'always on' connections becoming the norm the growth of applications using the hosted application model continues to expand.
Although hosted applications will not suit every situation, or every customer, they offer many individuals and organizations, as well as the application manufacturers' themselves, considerable benefits over the locally installed application.
What Is A Hosted Application?
A hosted application, also known as Internet-based application, web-based application, online application and Application Service Providers (ASPs) are software applications where the software resides on servers that are accessed through the Internet instead of the more traditional software that is installed on either a local server or on individual PC's.
The thin client concept is nothing new but advances in Internet connectivity have allowed the application to move from a local server to a server on the Internet.
Example of hosted applications would be Salesforce.com that provides customer relationship management facilities, Netsuite offering all-in-one business management applications and SurveyGalaxy.com that provides their customers with an enterprise survey and questionnaires application.
What Are The Benefits?
Reduced costs, instant deployment, easier to maintain and reduced administration are among some of the main benefits.
Low Maintenance
With hosted applications the hardware and software is the responsibility of the vendor with the client only having to maintain access to the Internet. As there is no software to download a hosted application can be made instantly available across an entire organization even where the organization has multiple regional and international offices.
As there is no software the considerable time and resources required for periodic updates is also completely eliminated.
Reduced Cost
The need to license software through a 'per user', 'per concurrent user', 'per server' or 'site' license has been eliminated. Although some hosted applications still do charge 'per user' many have taken the opportunity to charge on a 'usage' and/or 'period' basis meaning that the customer does not have to estimate the number of licenses that will be required, nor install and pay for full licenses that may only be used by some employees occasionally.
This hosted application model also allows the smaller organization and sole trader access to applications written using advanced software development tools and that utilize sophisticated database technology and high-end servers. The capital investment of the hardware and software as well as the security, backup and server maintenance cost are all the responsibility of the vendor.
Minimal Risk
Many hosted applications require no long term commitment from their customers. New customers can often test hosted applications either through a free introduction offer or with minimal risk using a Pay-As-You-Go model. If after trialing the hosted application the customer finds it unsuitable then they can simply stop using the service.
Access
Because the application software and the data is stored on the Internet server the application and data is available to the authorized client once they have logged on from anywhere there is Internet access. The customer can now work anywhere in the office environment, from remote offices or from their home or hotel without the need to download their work or synchronize with portable devices.
Integration
For organizations that have legacy systems from different suppliers running different operating systems the hosted application will provide an integrated solution to any system that supports a standard Internet browser including Windows, Unix and Macs.
Support
The hosted application vendors benefit by not having to maintain multiple version numbers or individual maintenance and licensing agreements. New updates are installed centrally negating the need for expensive roll outs. For many applications the need for version numbers is eliminated as updates are made incrementally bringing the benefits to the customer without having to bundle new features up into a new periodic version release. In some cases a user can request a new feature in the morning that can be developed, tested and deployed globally by the afternoon.
The Concerns
Internet access
New communication technology is able to bring high speed Internet connectivity to more and more remote places but there are still some regions where internet access is limited or not available.
In some cases such as mobile workers although high speed Internet connectivity is available the cost both in terms of connectivity charges and equipment may, at least in the short term, prove to be prohibitive.
Security
As with everything to do with the Internet security is a justified concern. There is no simple 'one size fits all' solution to the security issue and a lot will depend on the specific hosted application and the nature of the data.
With online banking and shopping becoming common place the vendor should be able to provide their clients with sufficient confidence that the data is secure and that any private information remains private.
Hosted applications will normally operate a login procedure ensuring that only those that are authorized have access. The more sensitive the data, the more sophisticated the login procedure.
A good data host will strictly enforce the stated wishes of their customers and ensure that data is not available or released to anyone that is not legally entitled to see it and they will adopt the latest security measures available to prevent unauthorized access.
There may be some areas such as automatic logins from known PC's and the use of cookies that although they don't necessary represent a significant risk could present a risk under certain circumstances, such as gaining access to a private account through the automatic login using an unattended PC. Although strictly speaking the customer's responsibility the customer should be made aware of the risks so that they can take action to safeguard their own system.
Although security is a concern in some circumstances private data may prove to be more secure than it would be on a private network with less sophisticated security measures or in an environment where there is a risk from within.
Vendor Lock-In
As with all software applications there is a risk that a customer could become locked-in to paying costly monthly subscriptions to maintain access to their historic data. To counter this some applications will allow the data to be downloaded or allow customer to maintain access to their data for a reasonable time free of charge.
Control
Unlike a local application the hardware and software is under the control of a third party. This is a justifiable concern although not too dissimilar to the telephone provider supplying and maintaining the communications equipment and there are considerable incentives for the vendors to ensure high availability and reliability since their business depends on it.
In Summary
Benefits
No vendor installation or upgrades required
Low start-up costs
Minimal Risk, no long term commitment
Backups and viruses responsibility of the vendor
Hardware and software server maintenance vendor's responsibility
Investment in local hardware & software reduced
No need to synchronized data with multiple devices
Access to data available globally through any internet connection
Reduced software licensing costs
Concerns
Lack of Internet availability
Security
Possibility of vendor lock-in
Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy a hosted application that provides an enterprise application to create, design and publish surveys online. For more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Day http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Are-Hosted-Applications?&id=83696
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 10:44 PM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Monday, October 29, 2007
Where Is Business VoIP Headed Technology And Applications?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Michael_Lemm]Michael Lemm
Just where is the business community headed for VoIP technology and applications? The answer is not that simple as it can vary greatly by region of the world. The difference in scale and application between small business networks and enterprise VoIP for larger organizations is also a factor in the equation.
What seems to be the practice in the US is that businesses adopt VOIP because it is budget friendly. Most companies deploy VOIP in new offices because it is cheaper than a new digital phone system. Existing offices are migrated to VOIP as leases on digital equipment expired. Interoffice voice communication occurrs without long distance costs as VOIP traffic travels the corporate WAN (VPN/MPLS/etc.) alongside or parallel to data traffic. I see this trend continuing domestically until digital phone systems are phased out completely.
The next challenge is replacing small business (analog) phone systems because they generally keep pace with consumer technology instead of larger businesses. You currently see VOIP for small business and personal use independent of the ISP. A combined offering of Internet data and voice could easily induce universal acceptance of VOIP in even the smallest business (as well as households).
The only thing left behind is conference equipment in businesses of all sizes. Your desktop phone provider rarely provides your digital/analog tripod conference phone and associated equipment. I expect technology advances for VOIP to be in the conference room as opposed to the desktop. When I hear convergence, I think of the unification of voice and data. The conference room is where you can really take advantage of this union.
Today in India especially; many small, medium & large enterprises are looking forward to VoIP technology as companies become more conscious about spending money on PSTN. With recent changes taking place in VoIP technology, and as it becomes more and more affordable, most organisations are coming forward to adapt these newer technologies to fulfill there communication requirements. To tap the growing requirements and market potential, not only the small phone companies but even the PBX manufacturing giants like Nortel, Avaya, Alcatel and Panasonic are continuously working on providing more advanced features and facilities utilizing the maximum possible technical advancements of VoIP. The current trend of unified communication concept is an example for this.
Australia/New Zealand were early adopters of IP telephony particularly in large enterprise and Government sites. The most likely reason to deploy IP Telephony was office relocation, and large enterprise customers replacing their aging legacy PBX with IP Telephony on the basis of future proofing, Toll-Bypass, and lower maintence cost compared to legacy pbx.
Cisco has sold something like over 5 million IP Phones worldwide. Australia & New Zealand combined sold over 500,000 IP Phones.
VoIP Technology is no longer about making cheaper calls in Australia/New Zealand. Its about optimizing business processes with fully integrated communication options. IM, Video Conferencing, Presence, Unified Messaging, and Mobility. I anticpate Australia and New Zealand to be early adopters to Unified Communication in Asia Pac.
Malaysia is an interesting place because, despite the lack of large "enterprise" sale of IP Telephony compared to Australia, there appears to be a large acceptance of VoIP Technology from open source such as SIPX, Asterisk and OpenSER. In fact, a lot of VoIP innovation coming from Malaysia is based on Open Source (ie. Free to download but you have to put long man hours to get it working). A fascinating application is one where you use your 3G mobile phone's camera to capture a video stream that sends automatically to your blogsite. This application is used also in Insurance companies where members are encouraged to record the "car accident" video clip as part of the process in submitting a claim. Also, the same VoIP technology is used in legal proceedings, in court, where lawyers can access the judge via 3G Mobile phone and IP Video Phone. These applications all use VoIP technology as the foundation.
On another note....the convenience of using the same cable infrastructure, manageability, cost involved maintaining Public Switching Telephone Lines, and quick and easy deployment are just a few parameters which attract most companies to buy the voice communication systems which support VoIP. That's a cottage industry in itself which will only grow as acceptance and deployment of VoIP takes a firmer hold in the business world.
For example, several Soft PBX softwares can be found on the Internet which are freely available for download and usage. This develpoment implies that the requirement for Hardware PBX is decreasing day by day. This also is an early indication that most of the voice communication techniques and products emerging in the future will be based on VoIP......and software aspects.
Lots of improvements are still needed in VoIP no matter where you are in the world.....but they are in the pipeline. For example, SMEs require simple to setup aid rather then technically rich products. An example of an improvement here would be products like the iSpeedBump from Interworking Labs. This goes outside your firewall and looks at your traffic. If it sees VoIP, it prioritizes that traffic over things that can go slower like e-mail. The device has four main settings to match 99% of cases and you just plug it in, set the switch and go. No more. Cleans up garbled VoIP yielding a better quality voice exchange.
Personally I think VoIP still has a long way to go to really compete with the landlines for business customers....particularly for small businesses. Not so much for large enterprises. For most VOIP installations, especially in a small company, though it is significantly cheaper VoIP doesn't work anywhere near as well as a landline. Nor are all the security concerns alleviated. At least yet.
The trick, and VoIP companies seem to have done a pretty good job of this, is to convince people that phone service doesn't always have to be perfect. Sounding like a cell phone is fine, and probably the other end of the conversation will think it is their end anyway. So don't waste your money on a landline. However, as VoIP quality and reliability catches up...no one will really notice a difference (or really care about what little difference there may be). Then the answer will be narrowed down simply to cost....and the most cost effective communication will win out.
Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including [http://DS3-Bandwidth.com]DS3-Bandwidth.com and [http://Business-VoIP-Solution.com/coverage.php]Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors [http://BroadBand-Nation.blogspot.com] Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Lemm http://EzineArticles.com/?Where-Is-Business-VoIP-Headed-Technology-And-Applications?&id=720195
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 9:41 PM,
,
Enterprise Application Services
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Enterprise Application Integration
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Abdul_Rahman_Waraich]Abdul Rahman Waraich
The Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is defined as the process of integrating enterprise computer applications using computer software resources, mostly organizations have two type of applications front office and back office applications, to integrate them in such a way that they can communicate with each other when needed either by simple data passing or by collaborative approach of different applications. EAI is not just about sharing data between applications; it focuses on sharing both business data and business process. When we talk bout EAI it means system of systems which involves large scale inter dependency problems with multiple heterogeneous distributed systems across a network.
The back office applications are those related to the business processes or those applications that are transparent to customer and only the employees or managers have to deal with for example Decision Support System (DSS) or an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and the front office applications are those which are visible to customer or which are for customer like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), before integrating these applications we have to know about the communication architectures available, it is thought that the best approach to EAI is to use an Enterprise service bus (ESB), which connects numerous, independent systems together. Although other approaches have been explored, including connecting database level, application layer or user interfaces. In ESB each independent application just need a connection to the bus so it can publish messages and subscribes to receive certain messages from the bus. This approach can be highly scalable.
"If you are involved with the operation or development of an enterprise application, there will doubtless come a time when you will need to integrate your application with another using the emerging preferred approach of messaging."
--Randy Stafford, Chief Architect, IQ Navigator
Enterprise Application Integration is related to middleware technologies such as message oriented architecture (MOA), data representation Tech. like XML to make the system highly transparent and scalable, when we talk about scalability web services is the only way because everything is coming to web now including web services like online shopping stores, online banking and even there are some virtual organizations, universities evolving which don’t have physical existence.
Web Services don’t just appeal to the technician, but directly address real business needs of today. The business should care about Web Services, particularly where they directly reflect some meaningful business concept, and especially where they are being exposed external – and hence are a reflection on the business.
“Web Services provide a simplified mechanism to connect applications regardless of the technology or devices they use, or their location. They are based on industry standard protocols with universal vendor support that can leverage the internet for low cost communications, as well as other transport mechanisms. The loosely coupled messaging approach supports multiple connectivity and information sharing scenarios via services that are self describing and can be automatically discovered."
Another approach for integration (of Web Services) is Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) which is essentially a collection of services. These services communicate with each other. The communication can involve either simple data passing or it could involve two or more services coordinating some activity. SOA help businesses respond more quickly and cost-effectively to the changing market conditions they may face by promoting reuse and interconnection of existing IT assets rather than more time consuming and costly reinvention. In adoption of SOA you may face many challenges like SOA based environment include many services which exchange messages to perform different tasks so a single application can generate millions of messages to control and manage these messages and convert them to appropriate formats is quite a difficult task many vendors a working to address this particular challenge. Another issue regarding implementation of SOA is of security, applications which consume services, particularly those external to company firewalls, are more visible to other parties then traditional applications, to over come this security problem WS-Security suite of specifications is being developed to provide appropriate security.
"Software vendors have got into the habit of selling large proprietary stacks, but now there are too many out there which is a problem for integration,”
“The key to integration is inter-operation…but [traditional methods] entailed people hand coding interfaces which increases time to market and reduces agility."
iWay director Russell Scherwin.
Pattern of design, development, deployment, and management of applications and software infrastructure and frameworks in which: Applications are organized into business units of work (services) that are (typically) network accessible. Service interface definitions are first-class development artifacts. Quality of service (QoS) characteristics (security, transactions, performance, etc.) are explicitly identified at design time. Software infrastructure takes active responsibility for managing QoS and enforcing policy for service access and execution. Services and their metadata are cataloged in a repository. Protocols and structures within the architecture are, optionally, based on industry standards (e.g., the emerging SOAP stack of standards)
“Adopting SOA would also give the IT department the opportunity to raise its profile among senior managers, by positioning itself as a business enabler” Russell.
SOA should be thought of not just as a way of designing and documenting an "Architecture of Services", showing their relationships, dependencies, etc., but also a discipline by which we ensure that those Services are the right Services, delivered at appropriate levels of granularity, abstraction and generality that makes sense to both Service Provider and Service Consumer, reduces the effort (particularly on the consumer) to use a set of services to perform a particular objective, and truly minimizes the impact of change allowing Service consumers to switch providers and Service providers to switch implementations.
In today's highly dynamic marketplace, organizations are looking for a fast return on new and existing investments. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a framework that enables businesses to speed the delivery of IT projects cost-effectively and easily. SOA is an ideal framework to leverage functionality in old and new systems, allowing the organization to respond faster to new opportunities.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abdul_Rahman_Waraich http://EzineArticles.com/?Enterprise-Application-Integration&id=204098
posted by Illusion Technologies @ 4:16 AM,
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