Microsoft .NET Focus
Independent Software recognizes that Microsoft's
.NET initiative requires a significant
and fundamental shift in software
applications and platforms. The future
of computing will be to compartmentalize
business processes into dynamic services
that function at a much more refined
level, allowing companies to reuse and
maintain these web services with
substantially lower costs and reduced
risk. This constitutes nothing less than
a revolution in the way that
applications are approached. At an early
stage in this overall web-services
revolution and coupled with its past
execution and dedication to software
architecture, Independent Software has positioned
itself to take advantage of this
ubiquitous approach and gain the thought
leadership position in the delivery of
services (as opposed to applications.)
Revolutionary Technology
Microsoft .NET is a revolutionary new
platform, built on open Internet
protocols and standards, with tools and
services that meld computing and
communications in new ways. The goal is
to make Internet-based computing and
communications easier to use, more
easily personalized, and more productive
for businesses and consumers. Microsoft
.NET applications are built in three
layers:
1. Web Services:
Web Services are building blocks for
constructing distributed Web-based
applications. XML-based Web Services
move control of data from isolated
applications to be be shared with
users, forms and other applications
to create a truly programmable and
accessible Web. After a Web Service
is developed, it can be reused in
the development of additional
Web-based applications in a variety
of platforms, object models, and
multi-language disciplines.
2. Aggregation and Orchestration:
Once Web Services are collectively
gathered to create a specific
business function, these services
are then aggregated into an
application and orchestrated in a
simple and easy way within the
existing infrastructure. These Web
Services are created and assembled
in several ways; they could have
been custom developed, pulled from a
client or partner's directory of
existing Web Services or accessed
externally from a service provider.
3. Compelling User Experience:
The development of a user interface
(UI) for the viewing information on
multiple devices completes the
simple yet compelling end user
experience.
Previously, programming models have
focused on displaying data on a single
system or try to attempt to represent
access with other systems as a local
interaction. .NET is explicitly designed
to allow the integration and
orchestration of any group of resources
on the Internet into a single business
solution. In the past, the cost to
aggregation back-end systems have been
extremely complex and costly but .NET
technologies streamlines this complex
task much easier and is intrinsic to all
software development processes. With
integration time and costs reduced,
business owners are now able to focus
time to maximize the business and
consumer user experience.
Microsoft .NET empowers people to
have control over how, when, and what
information is delivered to them.
Computers, devices, and services will be
able to collaborate directly with each
other, and businesses will be able to
offer their products and services in a
way that lets customers embed them in
their own electronic fabric.
Independent Software views .NET and Web
Services as the next revolution in
information management and has developed
our business model around the "faster to
value" paradigm of .NET. By leveraging
the intrinsic benefits of .NET,
Independent Software can produce business value
that maps directly to your bottom line.