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Improve the Effectiveness of Enterprise Applications
Macromedia Flex delivers rich Internet applications in scenarios where traditional page-based HTML applications are inadequate

Posted May 31, 2004

Macromedia Flex, Macromedia's new presentation server and application framework, enables enterprise development teams to put more effective interfaces on critical business applications. The Flex server offers a standards-based, declarative programming methodology for delivering rich user experiences through the ubiquitous Macromedia Flash Player. These experiences, known as rich Internet applications, combine the rich user interface of desktop software with the reach and ease of deployment of the Web. Partners and developers have already found strategic uses for Flex-based rich Internet applications.

"Everyone knows the limitations of HTML for application user interfaces, but until now, there hasn't been an alternative that works for enterprise development teams," said David Mendels, senior vice president, Macromedia. "Flex is going to create a renaissance in enterprise application development."

The Flex presentation server is designed to help development teams deliver rich Internet applications in scenarios where traditional page-based HTML applications are inadequate. Examples include rich visual data dashboards, online product selection and configuration tools, and customer self-service applications. These applications are multistep processes that involve visualization techniques, immediate user feedback, and local processing that are difficult if not impossible to deliver in HTML. The Flex application framework offers an extensible and customizable class library of prebuilt components, effects, behaviors, and layout managers for creating more effective experiences for these uses.

Streamline Architecture
The release of Flex represents a key milestone in the emergence of an important new application architecture. This new approach blends the flexibility of services-oriented data access with the superior reach and effectiveness of a cross-platform rich client, which results in applications that are easier to build and maintain, use less bandwidth, deliver more functionality, and run on all leading server and desktop operating systems.

"There is a major industry-wide push toward the use of service-oriented architectures [SOA] and rich clients as a way of delivering more effective experiences to enterprise customers," said Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst, ZapThink LLC. "Macromedia Flex perfectly encapsulates the kind of solution that enables enterprise developers to use their existing tools and architecture to bring a more intuitive, compelling user experience to online applications."

The Flex framework supports open tooling, allowing developers to use their text editor or IDE of choice to create applications that run on the Flex presentation server (see the sidebar, "Macromedia Flex").

"Enhancing the user interface of Web applications will help organizations reduce costs and increase revenue, and Flex enables the next generation of Web applications to provide rich, effective interactions," said Roger L'Italien, partner, Interactive Branding and Design, Usability, and eBusiness Innovation Centers, IBM Global Services. "Our customers are looking for ways to deliver greater value to their customers as well as streamline their internal processes, and with Flex, we can now rapidly create solutions that will help organizations achieve these results."

"Flex empowers developers to deliver better user experiences at a fraction of both the effort and time required by other development technologies," said Sean Voisen, developer, Taliant Software. "It allows developers to build robust, usable application interfaces quickly, easily, and, most importantly, consistently, without having to focus on needless details."

David Jokinen, vice president of product development, Terra Payments Inc. said "Terra Payments' success is based on providing easy worldwide access to the underlying complexity of electronic payments. Flex fits right into our strategy, helping us deliver the best customer experience at the lowest cost, and with the fastest time to market."

"We are looking at Flex as a way to extend the online Flash-based gaming experience we provide so it can include more sophisticated features previously only practicable in Java—such as rich personalization, client-side logic, and robust back-end integration," said Michael Montagna, architect, Wagerworks Inc. Our Java developers easily understand the Flex components and syntax, and really like the ability to use their existing expertise and familiar Java technologies like Struts, Eclipse, and Ant. Flex fits seamlessly within our development workflow."

Janaya Reitz