August 27, 1996
Judging by the speed that companies such as Oracle Corp., SAP AG, Baan Co., Dun and Bradstreet Corp., and PeopleSoft Inc. are racing to add a Web front end to their client/server suites, it would appear that Web browsers have a lock on the client of the future.
Web browsers may eventually perform all the functions of today's clients but not before client/server application vendors undergo a costly rewrite of their wares. "As browsers get enhanced and client/server companies convert their client technology into Java-based applets for browsers, functionality will increase " said Dave Folger, an analyst with the Meta Group Inc., in Stamford, Conn.
Oracle already provides Web front ends for three business applications that are targeted toward casual users manipulating or publishing documents, such as report distribution, stock-room tracking, and human-resource functions.
To provide a basic Web/client capability, most client/server vendors are relying on third parties, such as OneWave Inc., in Watertown, Mass., which sells a set of tools that makes it easier to link browser front ends to applications running on servers. OneWave's OpenExtensions for SAP is shipping now with interfaces for PeopleSoft and Baan applications due in December.
Some vendors, including SAP, PeopleSoft, and J.D. Edwards and Co., plan to go much further by rewriting their applications as a series of Java components, which will let users deploy all the functions of a client/server suite with a Web browser. SAP, for example, expects to release about 25 Internet application components by year's end.
Some analysts see these moves as only the beginning of a major strategy shift by the leading providers of client/server suites.
"I believe SAP will undergo a rebirth and go completely with Java in the next 18 months," said Bobby Cameron, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc., in Cambridge, Mass.
Ultimately, Cameron expects that browsers will function in a "client-services" model where clients download applets and data from back-end applications on an as-needed basis.
In the meantime, the lure of a cheaper and easier-to-maintain intranet infrastructure brought about by the use of a relatively standard Web client has many IS managers enthusiastic about using Web browsers.
"We are definitely planning on implementing a Web-based client by next year for some of the applications, such as the sales functions," said Kevin Moore, IS manager for Cataphote Inc., a large thermal plastics business based in Jackson, Miss.
However, concerns with security dictate that it will take several years before users trust confidential information to a Web-based application, users said. For applications to be fully Internet-enabled, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and Dun and Bradstreet will have to reconstruct their wares and rewrite not only the client, but also the server portion of their applications in Java or ActiveX to improve security.
But others counter that the underlying architecture of the application suites will not undergo such a fundamental change, believing instead that companies will extend the current functionality of existing applications via a Web interface.
"The Web browser will become the new client, but that won't change the underlying nature of the applications," said Michael Joseph, an analyst at International Data Corp., in Framingham, Mass.
Instead, Joseph argues that vendors will look to avoid the high cost of overhauling millions of lines of code by embracing "linking technology" to marry older architectures to the Web.
As a result, this may mean that IS managers can expect to see Web clients and richer proprietary clients deployed side by side for the foreseeable future.
"Intranets are still too insecure, no matter what high-level application is running on the back end, to trust with sensitive information," said Nenad Kreculj, principal software engineer for Telematics International Inc., in Calabasas, Calif. "I believe there will always be a niche for a beefier client/server application that handles accounting and highly confidential transactions."