Online Integration
Some of you may be asking "Online what?". Online integration is using the power of what is now termed "Web 2.0" to bring your company to the cutting edge of technology. So, in layman's terms, we build web applications that closely resembles, and in some cases replaces, desk top applications.
This could take the form of a database that you have been holding on a server in your office for years. Now you have opened another office and your new office can't access that old database. There are a few ways of handling this problem; one is online integration. We can convert that database to a web application that both of your offices can access from a browser. In fact, not only can the offices get to the data, but also your sales force or executives can access the information that they need, if they have access to the internet.
I know, some of you are going to be saying "I don't want the world to be able to get my company data". And you would be correct, you don't! However, remember that most of the financial industry and other security conscience industries have gone to online systems. Although, security is of great importance, they must know something if they are willing to put their business out there. The fact is that with the correct backup systems and best practices of web security, you too can have the online benefits of other companies. I will say right from the beginning, anything you put on the web has the potential to be hacked. Beware of the company that tells you that they can "guarantee web security". I guarantee you, they can not. They are many things that you and your web developer can do to reduce the risk of your data. Those should be discussed as a primary consideration at the beginning of the web application, not as an afterthought. With this in mind, you can greatly reduce your risk and gain the benefits that the web has to offer your company.
Now what about this web 2.0 stuff? Web 2.0 is a term used for multiple things, Goggle it and see how many definitions you get. Some people think of it as the explosion of blogs and social networking like Face Book and Twitter. Some view it not as technology, but the way that people use the internet. Yet others, myself included, think of it more about the new technology like "Ajax" that has been widely used for some very interesting applications. Ajax has changed the way users think of the internet. I don't intend to get into an Ajax lesson here, but you should know that, it has enabled web developers to create internet applications that act and feel like those that normally run on you desktop. In the example I used above, an internet database application can look and feel very similar to the one you have now.
If you have any questions about this material, please call or e-mail and we will be happy to clear it up for you.