Speaking with prospective customers every day, I’ve gotten quite good at handling the few objections people pose to implementing Ratchet-X. However, the one objection that continues to vex me is an issue over which we have little control. The issue is service support. When raised, the objection usually comes in two parts. The first part has to do with the reliability of the services that comprise a Ratchet-X plug-in. The second part has to do with application support staff’s ability to discern native application features from Ratchet-X enabled features.
Let’s start with the first part of the objection. Concerns over the reliability of underlying services comprising composite applications, mashups and “super-services” is nothing new. In fact, I wrote an article back in 2001 addressing this exact concern. Although six years have passed since I wrote that article, this concern is still alive and well, especially in organizations that have yet to implement proper SOA governance infrastructure and problem resolution procedures geared towards supporting spontaneous application generation. The bottom line is an organization’s SOA is not ready for prime time without the proper controls in place to monitor underlying services and provide immediate contingency in case of service failure.
The solution to the second part of the objection is not as clear cut. Although we tend to get the objection more from software vendors rather than enterprise customers, I believe it applies to any organization that takes application support seriously. Ratchet-X is all about creating user-centric software by allowing users to add new capabilities to existing applications. While that’s great for users, it presents special challenges for those responsible for supporting those applications. In other words, how do support personnel provide support for application features they’re not aware of? For the enterprise customer, we need to look much further the answer to the first part of the objection. The best way to solve this problem is to make sure these new features (plug-ins in Ratchet-X parlance), are incorporated into the organization’s SOA discovery and governance infrastructure. Since most plug-ins are comprised of, and in effect, function like web services, they should leverage the same infrastructure. Plug-ins should be registered, versioned, hosted and documented the same way all the organization’s services are handled.
In the case of software vendors, the issue is muddied by the fact they have to support multiple customer installations without access to and/or integration with such governance infrastructure. Nor do they really want that level of involvement with their customers. In the end, software vendors prefer their customers to look more alike than not. This being the case, it makes more sense for software vendors to direct their clients towards certified system integrators well-versed in both the vendor’s application and Ratchet-X. Since Ratchet-X opens up new revenue generation opportunities for systems integrators, they are both happier and more qualified to take on this kind of systems integration and support than the software vendors themselves.
If you have any other thoughts on this support issue, comment on this article or drop me a line. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Are Content Proivders Ready For Web Services?
Although the current incarnation of “software as a service” has been around for six years (branded as web services or SOA), I continue to be amazed at the number of content providers that remain unprepared for the new distribution channels afforded by web services. Interestingly enough, most of the hand wringing surrounding web services has more to do with developing a coherent business model that supports the channel rather than the technologies required to leverage the channel. Fear of alienating traditional partners, cannibalizing existing sales and in some cases, sheer market leader arrogance, are keeping many providers on the sidelines.
Without a doubt, web services is a both disruptive technology and business concept. The prospects of devising new business models to support customers of different stripes can be daunting. However, web services offers providers a golden opportunity to expand distribution beyond the narrow market segments they traditionally serve. So while the challenge of constructing new models is significant, failure to do so can be devastating. Most organizations are slow to implement new or supplemental business models because; they’re expensive to devise, promote and implement, they’re difficult to retract and they may expose broader strategic plans to competitors. While these concerns are genuine, collectively, they represent the largest impediments to innovation which is an open invitation to bolder and more nimble competitors.
So, is there a way to gauge the new business opportunities presented by web services in a covert way? The answer is yes and the concept is far from new. For years, organizations have tested new offerings and expanded distribution through carefully selected partners. In fact, there are a number of syndication partnerships in the content business today that could easily serve as a model for organizations looking for new distribution channels. For example, a number of content and software providers have partnered with companies such as Salesforce.com to co-distribute their wares in ways and at price points they never dreamed possible. Although most customers think of these combined offerings as “Saleforce add-ins”, they actually allow providers to test new business models in a more covert manner. By providing add-ins under the Saleforce umbrella, providers are free to experiment and limit the risks of making a commitment to a specific model.
The point is content providers need to acknowledge that web services will ultimately change the way their industry works and open them up to a plethora of new opportunities and customers. However, there is no need to go for broke right out of the gate when they can test new business models by partnering with organizations such as strong vertical application providers, web services networks and data aggregators.
In the web services world, content providers should look for partners who have complementary offerings that can be bundled together to create new offerings.
Without a doubt, web services is a both disruptive technology and business concept. The prospects of devising new business models to support customers of different stripes can be daunting. However, web services offers providers a golden opportunity to expand distribution beyond the narrow market segments they traditionally serve. So while the challenge of constructing new models is significant, failure to do so can be devastating. Most organizations are slow to implement new or supplemental business models because; they’re expensive to devise, promote and implement, they’re difficult to retract and they may expose broader strategic plans to competitors. While these concerns are genuine, collectively, they represent the largest impediments to innovation which is an open invitation to bolder and more nimble competitors.
So, is there a way to gauge the new business opportunities presented by web services in a covert way? The answer is yes and the concept is far from new. For years, organizations have tested new offerings and expanded distribution through carefully selected partners. In fact, there are a number of syndication partnerships in the content business today that could easily serve as a model for organizations looking for new distribution channels. For example, a number of content and software providers have partnered with companies such as Salesforce.com to co-distribute their wares in ways and at price points they never dreamed possible. Although most customers think of these combined offerings as “Saleforce add-ins”, they actually allow providers to test new business models in a more covert manner. By providing add-ins under the Saleforce umbrella, providers are free to experiment and limit the risks of making a commitment to a specific model.
The point is content providers need to acknowledge that web services will ultimately change the way their industry works and open them up to a plethora of new opportunities and customers. However, there is no need to go for broke right out of the gate when they can test new business models by partnering with organizations such as strong vertical application providers, web services networks and data aggregators.
In the web services world, content providers should look for partners who have complementary offerings that can be bundled together to create new offerings.
New Rich Client Tools
There’s been a spate of articles in the press of late extolling the virtues of a “rich application user experience”. As Internet-based computing matures and distributing applications become mainstream, users are asking the question; “why does the interface have to be so primitive?” While the computing ubiquity afforded by the browser has been a tremendous advancement in application distribution, its least common denominator interface has taken a toll on user productivity. Simply stated, application interfaces are more archaic and harder to use then they were during the client-server era.
Well worry no more. At last count, there were over twenty companies who have created alternative development platforms that allow developers to create rich client applications that fuse the benefits of Internet computing with robust user interfaces. Regardless of whether these new products are server-based, client-based or a combination of the two, all of these solutions allow developers to build sophisticated user interfaces without sacrificing the distribution benefits previously enjoyed only by browser applications.
This is all well and good but now developers have a new problem on their hands. While developers want to deliver better and easier to use applications to their users, they’ve spent a lot of time and effort acquiring their current skill sets and are going try to leverage those skills across as many projects as possible. Why take the time to learn yet another development environment when the tools they use day-in and day-out will most often suffice? Sure, some of these new products may perform a little better or have a few extra features, but ultimately, the more applications a developer can roll out using the same set of tools, the better off everyone will be. Applications will get rolled out faster, will be more stable and easier supported.
So despite the recent flood of product announcements, we believe most of these new vendors will not survive because developers will continue to use the tools with which they are already comfortable. This is especially the case when you consider the fact that support of service-based computing is job one for many of the larger tool vendors and that a feature that shows up in startup vendor A’s product will most likely appear in the next version of vendor B’s product.
The bottom line is developers want to leverage their skills across as many projects as possible and we don’t believe they will embrace these new tools en mass unless these vendors create something truly unique. Based on the attention being paid to this space by the major development players, this scenario is unlikely. While there will be some attention paid to these new offerings, in the end, developers will pass on these products and seek solutions that are compatible with the languages and development environments they already use.
Well worry no more. At last count, there were over twenty companies who have created alternative development platforms that allow developers to create rich client applications that fuse the benefits of Internet computing with robust user interfaces. Regardless of whether these new products are server-based, client-based or a combination of the two, all of these solutions allow developers to build sophisticated user interfaces without sacrificing the distribution benefits previously enjoyed only by browser applications.
This is all well and good but now developers have a new problem on their hands. While developers want to deliver better and easier to use applications to their users, they’ve spent a lot of time and effort acquiring their current skill sets and are going try to leverage those skills across as many projects as possible. Why take the time to learn yet another development environment when the tools they use day-in and day-out will most often suffice? Sure, some of these new products may perform a little better or have a few extra features, but ultimately, the more applications a developer can roll out using the same set of tools, the better off everyone will be. Applications will get rolled out faster, will be more stable and easier supported.
So despite the recent flood of product announcements, we believe most of these new vendors will not survive because developers will continue to use the tools with which they are already comfortable. This is especially the case when you consider the fact that support of service-based computing is job one for many of the larger tool vendors and that a feature that shows up in startup vendor A’s product will most likely appear in the next version of vendor B’s product.
The bottom line is developers want to leverage their skills across as many projects as possible and we don’t believe they will embrace these new tools en mass unless these vendors create something truly unique. Based on the attention being paid to this space by the major development players, this scenario is unlikely. While there will be some attention paid to these new offerings, in the end, developers will pass on these products and seek solutions that are compatible with the languages and development environments they already use.
Welcome To The RatchetSoft Blog
Welcome to the RatchetSoft blog. This blog is designed to facilitate a free and open discussion regarding user desktop integration issues and RatchetSoft's products and services. While you will find posts pertaining to some of the technical issues that help shape our offerings, it is not intended to serve as a technical support blog for our products. If you are looking for that kind of content, please visit our support forum at http://forums.ratchetsoft.com.
Thank you again for visiting and we hope you find this blog informative and entertaining.
Joe Labbe
Thank you again for visiting and we hope you find this blog informative and entertaining.
Joe Labbe
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