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What Are Hosted Applications
s access to the Internet software that is installed on
becomes more widespread either a local server or on
with faster, more reliable individual PC's.
and 'always on' connections
becoming the norm the growth of The thin client concept is
applications using the hosted nothing new but advances in
application model continues to Internet connectivity have
expand. allowed the application to move
from a local server to a server
Although hosted applications will on the Internet.
not suit every situation, or
every customer, they offer many Example of hosted applications
individuals and organizations, as would be Salesforce.com that
well as the application provides customer relationship
manufacturers' themselves, management facilities, Netsuite
considerable benefits over the offering all-in-one business
locally installed application. management applications and
SurveyGalaxy.com that provides
What Is A Hosted Application? their customers with an
enterprise survey and
questionnaires application.
A hosted application, also known
as Internet-based application, What Are The Benefits?
web-based application, online
application and Application Reduced costs, instant
Service Providers (ASPs) are deployment, easier to maintain
software applications where the and reduced administration are
software resides on servers that among some of the main benefits.
are accessed through the Internet
instead of the more traditional Low Maintenance
meaning that the customer does
With hosted applications the not have to estimate the number
hardware and software is the of licenses that will be
responsibility of the vendor with required, nor install and pay for
the client only having to full licenses that may only be
maintain access to the Internet. used by some employees
As there is no software to occasionally.
download a hosted application can
be made instantly available This hosted application model
across an entire organization also allows the smaller
even where the organization has organization and sole trader
multiple regional and access to applications written
international offices. using advanced software
development tools and that
As there is no software the utilize sophisticated database
considerable time and resources technology and high-end servers.
required for periodic updates is The capital investment of the
also completely eliminated. hardware and software as well as
the security, backup and server
Reduced Cost maintenance cost are all the
responsibility of the vendor.
The need to license software
through a 'per user', 'per Minimal Risk
concurrent user', 'per server' or
'site' license has been Many hosted applications require
eliminated. Although some hosted no long term commitment from
applications still do charge 'per their customers. New customers
user' many have taken the can often test hosted
opportunity to charge on a applications either through a
'usage' and/or 'period' basis free introduction offer or with
minimal risk using a integrated solution to any system
Pay-As-You-Go model. If after that supports a standard Internet
trialing the hosted application browser including Windows, Unix
the customer finds it unsuitable and Macs.
then they can simply stop using
the service. Support
Access The hosted application vendors
benefit by not having to maintain
Because the application software multiple version numbers or
and the data is stored on the individual maintenance and
Internet server the application licensing agreements. New updates
and data is available to the are installed centrally negating
authorized client once they have the need for expensive roll outs.
logged on from anywhere there is For many applications the need
Internet access. The customer can for version numbers is eliminated
now work anywhere in the office as updates are made incrementally
environment, from remote offices bringing the benefits to the
or from their home or hotel customer without having to bundle
without the need to download new features up into a new
their work or synchronize with periodic version release. In some
portable devices. cases a user can request a new
feature in the morning that can
Integration be developed, tested and deployed
globally by the afternoon.
For organizations that have
legacy systems from different The Concerns
suppliers running different
operating systems the hosted Internet access
application will provide an
New communication technology is should be able to provide their
able to bring high speed Internet clients with sufficient
connectivity to more and more confidence that the data is
remote places but there are still secure and that any private
some regions where internet information remains private.
access is limited or not
available. Hosted applications will normally
operate a login procedure
In some cases such as mobile ensuring that only those that are
workers although high speed authorized have access. The more
Internet connectivity is sensitive the data, the more
available the cost both in terms sophisticated the login
of connectivity charges and procedure.
equipment may, at least in the
short term, prove to be A good data host will strictly
prohibitive. enforce the stated wishes of
their customers and ensure that
Security data is not available or released
to anyone that is not legally
As with everything to do with the entitled to see it and they will
Internet security is a justified adopt the latest security
concern. There is no simple 'one measures available to prevent
size fits all' solution to the unauthorized access.
security issue and a lot will
depend on the specific hosted There may be some areas such as
application and the nature of the automatic logins from known PC's
data. and the use of cookies that
although they don't necessary
With online banking and shopping represent a significant risk
becoming common place the vendor could present a risk under
certain circumstances, such as customer to maintain access to
gaining access to a private their data for a reasonable time
account through the automatic free of charge.
login using an unattended PC.
Although strictly speaking the Control
customer's responsibility the
customer should be made aware of Unlike a local application the
the risks so that they can take hardware and software is under
action to safeguard their own the control of a third party.
system. This is a justifiable concern
although not too dissimilar to
Although security is a concern in the telephone provider supplying
some circumstances private data and maintaining the
may prove to be more secure than communications equipment and
it would be on a private network there are considerable incentives
with less sophisticated security for the vendors to ensure high
measures or in an environment availability and reliability
where there is a risk from since their business depends on
within. it.
Vendor Lock-In In Summary
As with all software applications Benefits
there is a risk that a customer
could become locked-in to paying - No vendor installation or
costly monthly subscriptions to upgrades required
maintain access to their historic - Low start-up costs
data. To counter this some - Minimal Risk, no long term
applications will allow the data commitment
to be downloaded or allow - Backups and viruses
responsibility of the vendor connection
- Hardware and software server - Reduced software licensing
maintenance vendor's costs
responsibility
- Investment in local hardware & Concerns
software reduced
- No need to synchronized data - Lack of Internet availability
with multiple devices - Security
- Access to data available - Possibility of vendor lock-in
globally through any internet
About the Author:
Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy a hosted application that provides an enterprise application to create, design and publish surveys online. For more information please visit http://www.surveygalaxy.com
Read more articles by: Martin Day
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
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