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TeleconferenceEnterprise RIA Adoption: What a Difference a Good Strategy MakesJeffrey Hammond

Senior Analyst

Forrester Research

November 12, 2008. Call in at 1:55 p.m. EST

2Entire contents © 2007 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Theme

RIA adoption is no longer a question of if, but a matter

of how…


RIA technology moved into mainstream use in 2007

“For custom-developed applications, which development platforms does your company use?”

(multiple responses accepted)

Base: 796 platform software decision-makers at North American and European enterprises and SMBs


RIA technology moved into mainstream use in 2007

Source: Forrester - 1105 Media IDE Survey, May 2007

“For what purposes is your organization using your primary IDE?

Base: 703 North American application development professionals (multiple responses accepted)


RIAs are evolving beyond consumer sites

Initial RIA deployments: Consumer Apps and ISVs

In 2007 Forrester saw a surge of internally focused RIA deployments – Why?

• Client-server application replacement

• Development of information workplaces

» Complex flows support task workers

» Visualization supports information workers

• Making core applications location, and device independent


How do you determine the

best approach?

There are common 3 RIA adoption archetypes

1. Tactical adoption at the developer/team level

» Spot enhancement of existing Web sites

» Widgets and applets

» Uses primarily FOSS Ajax libraries

2. Standardized adoption of Ajax or Plug-ins

» Full applications, client server app replacement

» Shops standardize across teams on Ajax or Plug-ins

» Mix of Commercial and FOSS Ajax, Flex and eventually Silverlight

3. Mixed model adoption based on fit-to-purpose

» Extends to mobile apps, desktop, offline use scenarios

» Shops define when and where to use different RIA technologies

» Supports interop. scenarios like Ajax w/ Flash and Flex w/ Ajax


Six dimensions that separate RIA options

Criteria Why it matters

Reach and intentMatching a solution to a user’s target platforms minimizes redundancies and wasted effort

Richness of widget setA broad palette of controls improves design options when dealing with complex data or transactions

Extended ecosystemDevelopment tools, training, consulting and support all minimize ramp-up time and decrease cycle time, extended lifecycle support is key

Performance profile Performance mismatches disappoint power users

Security and “…ilities” Difficult to retrofit after an application is deployed

Ease of customizationIntegration efforts, evolving UI design conventions, and self-support capability all require access to source code and customization capabilities


ConcernRaw Ajax

Ajax Libraries

Ajax Frameworks

Browser plug-ins

Desktop frameworks

Spot enhancements of existing Web sites

Widgets and Applets Full Applications Multiple OSes Multiple Browsers Mobile Devices Occasionally connected apps

Reach and intent – relative solution strength

Not Appropriate Adequate Good fit Overkill


Reach and intent – preflight checklist

• Where does your application need to go?

• Who will use it, how often?

• What does it need to do?

• How will you apply RIA technology?

» Incremental – spot enhancement of existing sites

» Transformational – completely new application or rewrite of existing legacy application


Richness of widget set – preflight checklist

• Is the widget library sufficient for that task at hand?

» Basic controls

» Advanced controls

» Data-aware controls

» Canvas and drawing

• Is relative positioning supported?

• How are styles, templates and skins applied?

• How easy is it to build new controls or integrate with other Ajax and Plug-in technologies?

• How will it adapt to the evolution of HTML 5?


Richness of widget set - examples

• With “roll your own” Ajax you do exactly that….

• GWT ~ 30 controls, mainly basic layout

• Dojo (Dijit) ~ 30 controls, mainly basic layout

• Flash/Silverlight 1.0 – primitives instead of controls

• Flex - ~ 30 controls, including data, charting and layout, can also interoperate w/ Ajax libraries

• Isomorphic - 35 controls, including data aware, analytics and visual design


Extended ecosystem – preflight checklist

Bells and whistles are necessary…but not sufficient!

• What’s the programming model and learning curve?

» Declarative vs. Imperative models

• Are there WSIWYG development tools available?

• Can you hire, find or train resources quickly?

• What about ALM and Design tool integrations?

» Can designers provide CSS, artifacts and/or share projects?

» Can you version artifacts with standard SCM tools?

» How will you test applications?


Performance profile – preflight checklist

• What is your usage intensity profile?

» Power users need validation, performance, keyboard shortcuts.

» Occasional users need effective engagement, UI cueing

» Infrequent users need low footprint, discoverability

• What’s the user base and client horsepower?

• What is the duty cycle on the application’s data?

• What’s the minimum start-up data set?


Infrequent and Occasional Users

Power Users

Programming model and performance profile separate RIA frameworks and libraries

Clie

nt

Se

rve

r

Imperative

Declarative

JSF Based (MyFaces,

ICEFaces, etc)

Struts, Tiles

GWTWicket

Dojo

jQuery

ExtYUI

XAPNexaweb

Isomorphic

Curl

JavaFX

Flex

Silverlight

Infrequent and Occasional Users

Power Users


Security and “…ilities” – preflight checklist

• What is the sensitivity of the data involved?

• What is the opportunity for exposure?

• What steps does the RIA technology take to insulate developers from common attacks?

• What accessibility requirements do you have?

• What navigability requirements do you have?

• What searchability requirements do you have?

• What measurability requirements do you have?

© 2008, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

How To Reduce The Security Risks In The Three Facets Of An RIA’s Attack Surface

March 2008 “Securing Rich Internet Applications”


“…ilities” are dependent on RIA technology type

• Plug-ins and Ajax frameworks generally do well with accessibility, Ajax libraries – not so much.

• Navigability is supported via hacks in Ajax libraries, Ajax frameworks, and Flex

• Searchability is a general problem for unless specific designs patterns are implemented

• Support for analytics is improving, especially for widgets, and Ajax applications


Ease of customization – preflight checklist

• What are your integration needs?

» Calling into .NET, Java on the server

» Support for SOAP, REST Web services

» Legacy integration and Packaged Apps

• What rights does the copyright holder grant you?

• What is the health of the supporting community (if any)?

• What standards does the technology support?

• What options do you have to mix and match different libraries and controls?


An example of a RIA win-win

Major U.S. Pharmaceutical Company

Problem: How to grow a custom app infrastructure to support the drug discovery pipeline.

Solution: An interactive reporting application that

» Allows researchers to create customized reports that drill down on particular aspect of the drug discovery process

» Makes large amounts of data locally available

» Ensures cleanliness of data before it enters the system

Benefits:

» Significant reduction in development time

» Higher level of developer abstraction


An example of a RIA win-win

Major U.S. Defense Contractor

Problem: Proliferation of open source RIA libraries create governance and architecture risk

Solution: An shift to a strategic mixed model RIA platform

» Deployed a mix of CRUD, reporting and transactional apps

» Executive dashboard integrates Ajax, Flash for maximum effect

» Core program planning app rolled out to ~4,000 engineers

Benefits:

» Usability creates high levels of end user good will

» Significant reduction ins developer on-ramp

» Ability to mix tactical refits and strategic development


Recommendations

• Start by defining the span of your RIA needs

» Incremental vs. Transformational

» Extranet vs. Intranet

» RIA scenario types

• Strategic users should focus on mixed model adoption

• Match the solution to your developer skill base

• Match the solutions to your performance profile

• Use Ajax where reach, integration and mobility needs are primary

• Use Plug-ins for rich media, occasionally connected apps, controlled deployments


Jeffrey Hammond

+1 617/613-6164

[email protected]

Twitter: jhammond

www.forrester.com

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