Software Makes a Sharp Right Turn to the Web

When IBM rolled out its first personal computer in 1981, the button-down corporation hired an upstart company named Microsoft to design its basic software. Needless to say, PC software, as well as Microsoft owners Bill Gates and Paul Allen, have come a long way since the days of the first floppy discs.

Software has seen tremendous transformations over the past three decades, with one of the latest pioneering achievements in software engineering coming in the form of a Web applications.

The Web application, or Webapp, is an application that can be accessed via a Web browser, as opposed to the traditional form of installing software onto the PC. The revolutionary software takes a sharp turn from past programs, which are designed to run on one computer and, at times, can be bulky and unwieldy.

“The Webapps have become popular for a number for reasons,” said Steve Burgess, a California-based IT consultant and computer forensics expert. “It takes a lot of internal support to manage user installed and networking that is not necessary when the IT management has effectively been outsourced to the Webapp provider. It allows a fixed per-seat cost that makes bean counters comfortable.”

Those bean counters earn promotions when hitting the bottom line at big companies, but where Webapps has really made an impact is on the small companies. Innovation doesn’t just stop at the doors of the mega-corporations like Microsoft. With the ability to provide Web-based applications, small companies with just a few programmers can produce groundbreaking software that’s relatively easy to distribute.

Web-based applications have shaken up the major players in the industry, who essentially are taking notice and simply buying back the technology. Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft and Google have all jumped onto the bandwagon and either bought out or created their own versions of a technology that’s lightweight and streamlined.

“Large and small companies are tired of being held hostage to Microsoft’s business model of ‘every PC must pay for every application,” said Dr. John Levy, a computer scientist and software expert who holds a Ph.D from Stanford University. “As soon as the Web application approach begins to be competitive – in time, convenience, reliability, security and cost – with installed software, there will be some serious competition for office suites and business specific applications.”

Many companies are at the threshold of offering serious competition. Salesforce.com, which began by offering a Web-based support application for sales personnel, has expanded by beefing up its customer relationship management software to organize workdays. Another cutting-edge company, TravelManager (www.travel-manager.co.uk) uses a hosted customer relationship management solution built for the transportation industry. TravelManager’s Web-based solution offers a relatively low monthly fee to bus and coach operators. In exchange, the operators receive a system to help organize their business without any bulky software or downloads to install.

The Webapp has become part of a bigger high-tech phenomenon dubbed Web. 2.0. This software sharing culture has picked up where the dot.com bust left off, with software design proceeding at breakneck speed. The techie world continues to debate what exactly fits into the Web. 2.0 definition, but delivering applications entirely through a Web browser has unanimously been considered an innovation that belongs. One reason the Webapps belong to the 2.0 club is because they have major technical advantages. When a Webapp is built to support standard browser features, they work regardless of the operating system. Instead of creating clients for Windows, Mac or Linux, the application can be written once and delivered almost anywhere.

Another theory that techies agree on is that as more and more software development moves to an online format, the greater the pressure on the major software developers to change course and join the club.

“I believe that larger software providers will continue to push for applications to be Web-based,” said Burgess. “It relieves the provider of packaging and shipping costs, and it allows the provider to support the software on a known infrastructure. Its own. … I don’t have a feel for the percentage of applications that will go Web-based rather than locally installed, but I do think there will always be a rich mix.”

How rich that mix is anyone’s guess, but the trend for now is definitely moving applications to the Web and using AJAX techniques, which simulate the experience of using desktop applications. The strength of Webapps is that there are no downloads to manage, they can run everywhere and the data is always accessible. It certainly doesn’t mean Webapps have their weaknesses, but the future of Webapps appears to be on solid ground. At least until the next card is revealed in the software revolution.

“I expect an explosion in applications for all sized businesses, beginning with individual profession-service firms on up to global corporations,” said Levy. “Security being a major concern these days, I don’t think we’ll see the complete demise of installed software, but look for growth in tools and utilities that enable Web-based information sharing, brokerage models for selling and buying, and other applications that haven’t been conceived yet.”

Even if security is an issue, the kinks are being worked out, with the UK’s Ministry of Defence taking a lead role in attacking potential problems. The MoD is spending £4 billion on the Defence Information Infrastructure project, which is expected to provide secure browser access to its information centers at more than 2,000 sites. Services include messaging, Web access, data management and application hosting services. The MoD’s goal is to enhance its operational effectiveness by providing better IT and communication systems. The 10-year project is expected to improve the department’s strategic abilities on the battlefield and during times of crisis.