| 2.3.3 Step 3: Globalization Once the application is e-ready, then all the technology available for
newly written web applications becomes readily available, and the application can be
deployed for the whole planet to access (under appropriate security control, of course).
The old green screen transactions are now request/response components embodying their
respective business rules and processes, stripped of the presentation responsibility. They
can be accessed by any appropriate process, on platform or off platform, and the result
used in a B2B exchange or displayed via the presentation specifications in an XSL file.
B2B web servers can be set up to front-end the application,
using XML data interchange. Products from vendors such as webMethods, Bluestone Software,
DataChannel, and Information Architects among others can provide whatever is required,
from custom electronic marketplaces to web portals and content aggregation and syndication
software.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the elimination of
the batch window, for which there is no silver bullet solution. Until this is overcome,
the globalized application will still have to be taken off-line during the batch
processing hours.
The good news, however, is that relatively few programs may
be involved for some application systems. Indeed, the biggest problem may not be
technical, but getting business operations to think in 24x7 terms. We were discussing this
issue with a financial industry client who said he could readily implement 24x7, once
business operations could define what closing the books meant in a 24x7 environment. |
