Evolution of the Rich Internet Application Market

As the Internet continues to penetrate every aspect of our lives, both business and personal, the distinction between “Internet application” and “application” increasingly fades from view. Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) operate in the sweet spot among richness of Internet capability, richness of user interactivity, and richness of client-side computing capability. RIAs act as Service consumers as part of Service-Oriented Architecture implementations and enable Enterprise Mashups.

Since ZapThink first covered the space in 2002, the RIA market has matured considerably, establishing two core submarkets: RIA environments and RIA components. Adobe Systems emerging as a leader in the RIA environments submarket with their Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and Flex products. Microsoft is a strong contender with their newer Silverlight technology. Open source vendors have emerged as significant players, and form a large portion of the RIA components submarket.

While the RIA market should continue to grow for the next few years, it will most likely merge with other markets long term and be indifferentiable from a market sizing perspective as the RIA category increasingly overlaps with other existing desktop and Internet application categories.

ZapThink SOA Implementation Roadmap 3.0

Download or purchase ZapThink’s popular “ZapThink SOA Implementation Roadmap” poster!

ZapThink Announces Major Update to Popular SOA Implementation Roadmap Poster

ZapThink, the industry’s foremost experts, advisers, and educators in the field of Service-Oriented Architecture, is responding to customer demand with today’s publication of the third version of its popular “ZapThink SOA Implementation Roadmap” poster. The company distributed over 100,000 copies of its first two versions of the poster, the first in 2003 and then updated in 2005. The latest version adds cutting-edge thought leadership in SOA, includes detail on architectural artifacts, and expands coverage of SOA Quality, Enterprise Mashups, and more.

Read more at: Emediawire

Ajax emerging as RIA alternative of choice, says Burton

However, Jason Bloomberg, senior analyst with ZapThink LLC., remains skeptical of the JSF tools.

“We’ve seen one other vendors tout the benefits of JavaServer Faces — ICEsoft out of Calgary,” Bloomberg says. “They also offer a JSF approach for creating Ajax apps without the need for scripting in JavaScript. An additional benefit is that it deals with cross-browser issues, but the downside is that it’s a Java tool only for Java developers. In my opinion, these JSF-based approaches will remain niche players, while the language-neutral guys like Nexaweb and JackBe, as well as incumbents like Adobe and Microsoft, will become established as the leading players.”

Read more at: SearchWebServices

ZapThink: RIAs Based on Ajax, Flash, and Java Will Supplant Static Web Applications and Portals

ZapThink: RIAs Based on Ajax, Flash, and Java Will Supplant Static Web Applications and Portals
ZapThink – July 27, 2006

Demand for Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) and more sophisticated user interaction is increasing dramatically, and enterprise spending on RIA applications will surpass $500 million by 2011, according to ZapThink. The analysts say enhancements to six types of business applications are helping drive RIA spending: high-transaction and event-driven Internet applications, next-generation portals, enhanced business intelligence solutions, application modernization, and Service composition or “mashup” solutions.

In a new report, ZapThink describes RIAs as providing an end user experience that combines the experience that users are most familiar with in desktop and client/server applications — such as rich graphical user interface, responsive performance and highly interactive functionality — with the scalability, distribution, and manageability benefits that Internet applications provide.

“Users today increasingly demand more from their online user experiences,” said Ronald Schmelzer, founder and senior analyst with ZapThink. “The convergence of SOA and Web 2.0 are leading organizations to retire their static Web pages and inflexible portal applications. Today’s set the bar for user interactivity higher than ever before, and expect their online exper

Read more at: Tekrati

Rich Internet Applications Based on Ajax, Flash, and Java Will Quickly Supplant Current Static Web Applications and Portals

BALTIMORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 25, 2006–ZapThink released a report today showing that demand for Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) and more sophisticated user interaction is increasing dramatically. RIAs provide an end user experience that combines the experience that users are most familiar with in desktop and client/server applications, such as rich graphical user interface, responsive performance and highly interactive functionality, with the scalability, distribution, and manageability benefits that Internet applications provide. The report entitled “Rich Internet Applications: Market Technologies and Trends” shows that Rich Internet Applications will continue to gain prominence in the enterprise, with companies spending more than $500 million on RIA applications by 2011.

“Users today increasingly demand more from their online user experiences,” said Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst with ZapThink. “The convergence of SOA and Web 2.0 are leading organizations to retire their static Web pages and inflexible portal applications. Today’s set the bar for user interactivity higher than ever before, and expect their online experiences to behave more like the desktop applications they are used to.”

ZapThink’s report aims to establish the current state of the RIA market, quantify business trends, and predict the future of the RIA markets. In particular, the report identifies emerging classes of business problems that RIA solutions target, current and future trends for spending on RIA solutions, the primary technological RIA approaches, average RIA deal sizes by technology and business problem, overall RIA market sizing, and categorization of RIA solutions by segment and market approach.

Other key findings of the report include:

• The market for RIA solutions consists of three submarkets focused on delivering RIA components, environments, or extensions to Integrated Development Environment (IDE) suites.
• There are four primary means for providing RIA capabilities: Adobe Flash virtual machine-based approaches; browser-based approaches that use JavaScript, XML, and other technologies, also known as Ajax; approaches that use Java applets or ActiveX controls; and custom-developed Java or .NET clients.
• A set of six key business applications are motivating overall RIA spending consisting of enhancement of existing web applications: high-transaction and event-driven Internet applications, next-generation portals, enhanced business intelligence solutions, application modernization, and Service composition or so-called “mashup” solutions.

The report, available on ZapThink’s Web site at www.zapthink.com, discusses several companies, including Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE), Altio (division of Integra SP), Backbase, Curl, DreamFactory, General interface a division of TIBCO (NASDAQ: TIBX), ICEsoft, Ideo Technologies, JackBe, Laszlo Systems, Macromedia (now part of Adobe), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Nexaweb, SCO Group (NASDAQ: SCOX), Zapatec, and ZK, among others.

Read more at: ZapThink

Rich Internet Applications: Market Trends and Technologies

Two of the often conflicting desires in IT are the need for rich user interfaces that maximize a user’s productivity on the one hand and the desire to decentralize computing so that a user can gain access to the widest base of IT assets at the lowest possible cost on the other. These two forces are at odds because rich client interfaces, until recently, have only been possible in certain limited scenarios in which the business logic and computing resources were combined with the interface.

However, a new class of presentation layer is emerging in the marketplace. This Rich Internet Application provides an end user experience that is similar to client/server applications, with a rich graphical user interface, responsive performance and highly interactive functionality. As companies desire richer interaction between their Web Services-based applications and the users of those applications, Rich Internet Applications will continue to gain prominence in the enterprise. Users will increasingly demand the ability to present very large data sets to a dispersed audience without sacrificing the economics that Web applications or the rich user experience that traditional client/server applications provide.

While significant attention and hype have recently been placed on emerging RIA technologies such as Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), there are still many questions about precisely what business problems are driving RIA adoption. Furthermore, is the RIA class of applications merely a flash in the pan soon to be subsumed by a more potent solution to business problems, or is there sustainability and repeatability in RIA solutions that provide long-lasting and compelling value to businesses? As such, this report aims to tackle the following questions to help establish the current state of the RIA market, quantify business trends, and postulate the future of the RIA markets:

• What are the emerging classes of business problems targeted by RIA solutions?
• What are businesses currently spending on RIA solutions, and how will this change over time?
• What are the primary technological approaches being implemented by businesses, and how will these trends play out over the next few years?
• Who are the primary buyers of RIA solutions and how does this impact RIA deal sizes?
• What is the prospective market sizing for RIA solutions and how will this change over time?
• How are RIA solutions categorized by different segment and market approaches?

This report aims to identify emerging market trends and address the above questions, but does not aim to specifically analyze individual RIA solutions or product offerings, nor rank vendors according to how they meet specific business requirements.

Adobe looks to bring Ajax to designers

Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst with ZapThink LLC, said there are positives to Adobe getting involved in Ajax.

“It’s definitely good news that Adobe is entering the Ajax side of the Rich Internet Application market,” he said.

He noted that Spry may fit into Web applications where Flash is not needed or wanted.

“Flash will always serve a role in Web-based applications,” Schmelzer said, “but end users are now increasingly looking for browser-native technologies such as Ajax to fill the gaps where Flash may not necessarily be appropriate. Or at the very least, where developers seem to be finding a space for Ajax that they didn’t see for Flash. By introducing Spry, Adobe is now playing both sides of the Rich Internet App fence: The Flash-based apps for high-powered, graphic and visualization-intensive experiences and Ajax-based solutions for lighter weight, but broader applications where Flash or Flex didn’t necessarily reach. They are giving their customers choice, and that’s what they want.”

apThink’s Schmelzer said having a major software vendor like Adobe taking a major role in Ajax tool development is a positive for the fledgling technology and may help build the market for tools that support development in it.

“The Ajax marketplace is littered with a wide array of tiny widget/component solution companies, open source efforts and emerging startups,” the analyst noted. “While there are some serious and significant startups solving some of the real challenges of making Ajax work for developers, notably ICESoft, JackBe, and Nexaweb, Adobe’s entry serves to bring their designer/creative market into the fold of Ajax. Rather than pushing at the developer community, Adobe hopes to capture the capabilities of their creative audience with the power of RIAs, deployable either in the Flash-based Flex environment or the browser technology-based Ajax environment.”

Read more at: SearchWebServices

Will Sun open source Java at JavaOne?

JavaOne exhibitors will be introducing new products as well. Jason Bloomberg, senior analyst at ZapThink LLC, expects to hear a “Web 2.0 meets SOA story. “There’s a panel that will talk about Web 2.0 and SOA and mashups. A mashup is essentially a SOBA with a governance framework.” In addition, he said, “there is definitely a tie-in between Ajax and rich internet applications and SOA. Better tools for consuming services is a key part of the SOA story, especially as the number of available services starts to rise.”

Bloomberg cited work in the rich client area being done by Nexaweb Technologies Inc., and ICESoft Technologies Inc.

Read more at: SearchWebServices

ICEsoft Challenges Conventional AJAX

“ICEfaces is really breaking the mold for what AJAX applications can truly mean for the enterprise,” said Ron Schmelzer, Senior Analyst at ZapThink. “For most companies today, AJAX represents a hodgepodge of scripts and widgets that require the developer to know too much about how the client operates, and has very little maintainability and predictability as the quantity of AJAX explodes on the client. ICEsoft faces this challenge head on by thinking first about the needs of building rich applications in the context of existing client-side heterogeneity.”

Read more at: ICESoft Press Release