freedom jul08 nc - ibm research · freedom a hosted power builder for web 2.0 applications dr. asaf...

Simplified Middleware & Tools

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2008

Freedom A hosted power builder for Web 2.0 applications

Dr. Asaf Adi, Manager, Simplified Middleware & Tools

IBM Haifa [email protected]


Simplified Middleware & Tools | 7-Jul-08 © 2008 IBM Corporation

Freedom - A Hosted Development Environment for Web 2.0 Applications and Widgets

� Customer Problem: SMBs & LOBs want - Short time to value- Easy deployment- Low cost - Low risk - Option to scale in the long term

� Goal: Simplifying the development experience by focusing on users and their needs as opposed to technology

- Providing hosted, web delivered tools- Different tools to different user roles

� Templates for Business User� UI composition & Reports for Skilled Business User� Workflows, Scripts, and Customized data access for Business Developers

- Built to connect to existing organization data – RESTfull, standard relational database schemas

- Deployed standalone on IBM Middleware – WAS, sMash, DB2

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Simplified Middleware & Tools | 7-Jul-08 © 2008 IBM Corporation�

Target User Roles

� Mix of business and IT goals. IT part of their role, but work closely with the business users. Need to quickly turn around applications for their internal customers.

� Skills – Web technologies –HTML, XML, CSS, Script (JavaScript, VB, LotusScript). Domino developer. Not a Computer Science Major. Could be a system admin.

� Mix of business and IT goals. IT part of their role, but work closely with the business users. Need to quickly turn around applications for their internal customers.

� Skills – Web technologies –HTML, XML, CSS, Script (JavaScript, VB, LotusScript). Domino developer. Not a Computer Science Major. Could be a system admin.

Business DeveloperBusiness Developer

� IT focused. Build anything to meet the business sponsors needs. Don’t want to focus on the smaller projects, in general.

� Skills – J2EE (Java, JSP, Portlets, Servlets, EJBs, Database). Use WID. Can build anything they need. Computer Science major. Understands object oriented programming techniques.

� IT focused. Build anything to meet the business sponsors needs. Don’t want to focus on the smaller projects, in general.

� Skills – J2EE (Java, JSP, Portlets, Servlets, EJBs, Database). Use WID. Can build anything they need. Computer Science major. Understands object oriented programming techniques.

Professional DeveloperProfessional Developer

� Business goals only. Trying to get their job done. Applications or solutions are a means to an end. May want the ability to customize their environment using non-IT tools.

� Skills – experts in their business tasks, use computers, browse the web, but no development skills, even HTML. No desire to learneither.

� Business goals only. Trying to get their job done. Applications or solutions are a means to an end. May want the ability to customize their environment using non-IT tools.

� Skills – experts in their business tasks, use computers, browse the web, but no development skills, even HTML. No desire to learneither.

Business UserBusiness User

� Business goals. Department ‘guru’. Can use more sophisticated tools to enable Bus to accomplish tasks. Often needs to automate repeatable processes.

� Skills – experts in the business, not a developer type but understands technology and is willing to spend a certain amount of time to learn the tools if the payback is quick and large enough.

� Business goals. Department ‘guru’. Can use more sophisticated tools to enable Bus to accomplish tasks. Often needs to automate repeatable processes.

� Skills – experts in the business, not a developer type but understands technology and is willing to spend a certain amount of time to learn the tools if the payback is quick and large enough.

Skilled Business UserSkilled Business User

Source: Lotus Software Application Development Tools User Research, Sandra Kogan, 2004



Role Based Freedom Flavors

Business Developer

Skilled Business Users

Business Users



Freedom Templates

� A “killer application” is created in advance with identified POVs- POVs allow the solution to be customized for the exact needs of the deployer

� E.g., minimum credit rate in a loan approval process, a validation code fragment

- Once the POVs are resolved, the solution can be used

� Freedom helps business users resolve POVs- ISVs to externalize their POVs in a standard way- Freedom to let users resolve the POVs using a friendly UI and deploy the solutions



Freedom Composer

� A simple IDE that lets users with very limited IT skills create simple applications

- UI is constructed out of forms� Simple, well known formalism

- Data is kept in a database� Data model is directly extracted from the UI

- Reports can be created over database stored data

- Simple security model allows application creators to share their applications and data

- Sharing of applications, limited per-row ACL

� With Freedom Composer business users can solve many practical work issues in a ad-hoc way

- Collecting information from employees- Simple data analysis

� Development time in the order of 10’s of min.



Freedom Designer

� Business/power user development will only bring you so far

- Freedom designer let business developers gain Freedom grade productivity through a hosted IDE

- Visual application composition and programming experience that allow for quick and effective development of common applications

- Developers can add code fragments, control the application’s database structure etc.

- Collaboration Workflows- Non declarative business logic can be

added

� Allows for quick application development beyond the limits of end user development

� Development time in the order of days



Freedom’s major components

� Four separate components- Can be mixed and matched - Can be reused separately

� Interoperating using REST � Templates decouple the IDE and the

runtime- Completely separate process and

executable

�



Use Case - The Alligator Banking Corporation Silver Asset Program

� Jane Smith is the district manager for the Alligator Banking Corporation Bank (ABC Bank), a bank with branches throughout Florida and Georgia. Jane Smith is responsible for forty branches in southeastern Florida.

� ABC Bank had developed a Silver Assets program for its baby boomer customers

� Jane decided that her district would go one step beyond the Silver Assets program and institute a breakfast seminar series on investing for retirees.

- Asked each of the forty branch managers to work with:� Potential customers� Local organizations that serve well off seniors (e.g. museums, golf clubs)� Locations that can hold monthly breakfast meetings

- Breakfast seminars should be organized by the local branch reps. Agreement with local providers should be approved by the branch manager and a breakfast seminar should be approved by Jane

- Jane would like to receive reports on event participation and new bank customers resulting from the event.


Simplified Middleware & Tools | 7-Jul-08 © 2008 IBM Corporation��

The Alligator Banking Corporation Silver Asset Program



The Solution – Freedom



Demo – Local Branch Meeting Organization

� Mix of Freedom Composer & Freedom Designer - UI composition

� Event details� List of participants

- Client side scripts- Approval workflow- Reports



ABC Demo – Application Creation

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ABC Demo – UI Design

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ABC Demo – Client Side ScriptsUpdating Coordinator Name & Branch via “Blue Pages” Service

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ABC Demo – Approval Workflow

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ABC Demo – Generated application

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ABC Demo – Creating a report “Seminar Cost by State”

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ABC Demo – Creating a report Selecting source of data

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ABC Demo – Creating a report Selecting fields for the report

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ABC Demo – Creating a report Grouping the data according to state

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ABC Demo – Generated Report

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Freedom at Alphaworks Services IBM Development Engagement Service

� An earlier version of Freedom - development environment for form based applications backed by a database.

� http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/devengage/� Deployed in mid May; updated twice � Broad media coverage

- The Wall Street Journal, InformationWorld, PC World, AJAX World and more� 1700+ apps created by 1100+ different users� �John Dove VP, Operations Business Management Research Associates,

Inc.

“This IBM Development Engagement Service is incredible! I have been creating PHP forms on my ISP site -- it is tedious! This is the answer to my need to provide interactive forms in a very timely manner.One such application is a way to communicate to my ink/toner supplier my on-hand inventory before the regular visit”



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freedom jul08 nc - ibm research · freedom a hosted power builder for web 2.0 applications dr. asaf...

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