The SureCode Application Server
SureCode Design Goals
How do we deliver a compelling solution that enables the rapid and cost
effective deployment of new HTTP based solutions for our customers?
To answer this question we conducted a study that focused on the advantages
and disadvantages of current deployment options. Although we considered
many different types of situations and requirements, the solution in almost
all cases fit into one of four basic approaches. These are: (1)
build a custom solution in house; (2) outsource development of
a custom solution; (3) identify and deploy an off-the-shelf product;
or (4) employ the services of an Application Services Provider
(ASP).
Early on during the course of this effort, we realized that having an
additional option that combined many of the advantages of the four basic
approaches identified above might be well received by customers. We envisioned
that our hybrid solution could offer the following benefits:
- Rapid application development and deployment with 48 hour turn around
for new HTTP solutions. Applications would need to provide advanced
database capabilities and would be based on an extensive library of
turnkey solutions that are ready to deploy.
- Lowest available cost for application development and maintenance.
- The ability to fully customize the visual and functional aspects
of each application to meet specific design requirements.
- The ability to build a custom solution from scratch should no suitable
library application be available.
- Complete fulfillment and deployment of applications so the customer
has nothing to do except place the order, accept delivery, and load
data.
- A pricing model based on unlimited seat licensing.
- The ability to support real-time data exchanges with other enterprise
applications via ODBC.
- The ability to have end users fully control all application data
and user accounts via a HTML administrator control panel.
- 100 % flexibility over where the physical hardware resides (i.e.
behind a customer's enterprise firewall if desired) with no co-mingling
of different customer's data on a single platform.
These benefits became our design goals in establishing how to deliver
SureCode.
