I just finished reading an interesting article by Yakov Fain from Farata Systems on the relationship of service oriented architectures (SOA) and rich internet applications (RIA). The article is a great kick start if you’re new to the whole concept of service based architectures (especially if you have an interest in how SOA’s relate to RIA’s). On top of that, I’m always keen in hearing the RIA-related opinions from people/organisations that come from the Enterprise Java side of the fence. With Farata Systems definitely falling into this category.
Yakov’s initial comment in the article relating to “What is the driving force for implementing any technology or architecture in a decent size Enterprise?” aligns very closely to a post I made some time ago about “Who is actually pulling the RIA development strings”. Within the post I discussed the who within traditional IT based organisations are the main champions in driving the uptake of RIAs.
This got me thinking about the bigger picture. What (or who) exactly are the main drivers behind the surge in the popularity of RIAs. Is it the corporate champions within organisations raising internal awareness? Maybe it’s the technology thats trail blazing the way forward. If we look back at Yakov’s post, the architecture of the existing applications and infrastructure has a lot to do with it. What about the bottom line financial benefits of RIAs – surely they have a large role to play? Perhaps it’s boils down to a greater awareness of the benefits of user experience (UX) and how RIAs deliver this? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s something as simple as an organisation wanting to create a better, more widely recognised brand for itself. Personally, I’m of the opinion it’s a combination of all of the above. Individually, any one of the above points could act as a catalyst to motivate an orgnisation to roll-out the RIA red carpet. Realistically though, it boils down to a combination.
Over the upcoming weeks I’ll be delving into each of the above points to flesh out the pro’s, and con’s of the main motivators behind the sudden popularity of rich internet applications.
Stay tuned