Software Application Development

We are seeing a not-so-gradual shift away from client-side applications. That is, more and more applications are running "in the cloud," and are accessed via your web browser.

There are powerful technical reasons for this shift, but just like most things it boils down to economics. Client-side applications just cost too much. Costs for development, deployment, and maintenance are simply higher for client-side applications, even if they do talk back to a central database system of one sort or another.

The reasons for this are many-fold, but consider the following key factors:

• You are generally tied to one computer platform. Java promised to be a "write once, run anywhere" language, but that hasn't worked out so well.

• Updates are expensive to deploy and maintain. You have to update the software on each client machine individually.

• They lack portability in an increasingly mobile world.

If you are considering developing a custom application, you need to look at developing a browser-based application as part of your development strategy.

Moving to the Cloud

Okay, you're convinced that your application needs to live "in the cloud." It's going to be accessible from any computer with a web browser (using industry-standard SSL security when appropriate), including mobile devices like Android-based smartphones and Apple "iDevices."

Traction Systems is committed to building enterprise-class web applications built on its powerful ClearLake web application framework. ClearLake enables us to develop web-based systems as true applications, rather than a collection of scripts. That means developing, debugging, and optimizing your application happens just like it does for a standard client-side application.

ClearLake, married with a standards-based web interface utilizing HTML, CSS, and Javascript (including great technologies like AJAX and the upcoming HTML5 standard), provides a platform designed to support your systems now and in the future.

So when you're ready to take your application to the next level, Traction Systems is there to make it happen.