ARE YOU SURFING WITHOUT A LIFE JACKET?

LOOKING AT THE PROS AND CONS OF WEB BASED SOFTWARE

Karen Burkhardt, Mobilitat Software

Choosing the right software can be difficult…

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security Maintenance, Support, & Upgrades Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions• Desktop/Networking overview• Client-Server overview

• LAN, WAN, VPN networks• Firewalls and vulnerability• Bandwidth

STAND- ALONE

PC

In the beginning…

…and then there were two

TYPICAL DATABASE APPLICATION MODEL

DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

DATA

SERVER APPLICATION SOFTWARE

CLIENTPC

CLIENTPC

CLIENTPC

…then things became more complicated

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions

• Desktop/Networking overview• Client-Server overview• LAN, WAN, VPN networks• Firewalls and vulnerability• Bandwidth

…add a database to the network

using the internet as a private network

then things became

…and a larger network then we’ll worry about

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions• Desktop/Networking overview• Client-Server overview• LAN, WAN, VPN networks• Firewalls and vulnerability• Bandwidth

Connectivity Internet Security Maintenance, Support, & Upgrades Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions

Connectivity• Types of connections

Internet Security Maintenance, Support & Upgrades Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity

Internet Security

Maintenance, Support & Upgrades Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity

Internet Security• Data, data…

Maintenance, Support & Upgrades Cost Summary

Internet Security• Data, data…

1. Where is your data stored?

2. In what format is your data stored? If it is stored in a proprietary format, can the data be downloaded so you can use it in other programs?

3. What are the privacy policies you need to follow?

4. Does the web host have a written privacy policy?

5. What will happen to your data if you want to stop contracting with the web software provider, or worse, if the software provider goes out of business?

6. Some web hosts do not actually store data themselves, but contract with a third party for data storage. Because there are no laws governing remote data storage, it is up to your vendor to make sure that your organizations’ data aren't being misused.

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security

Maintenance, Support & Upgrades

Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security

Maintenance, Support & Upgrades• And a word about backups

Cost Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security Maintenance, Support & Upgrades

Cost• And a word about reporting

Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security Maintenance, Support & Upgrades

Cost• And a word about reporting

1. There can be charges for creating each new report or for modifying report formats.

2. There can be a significant time delay in obtaining new reports.

3. You might not be able to access your data at will. Export/Import tools that are available to you might exclude some data fields you would like them to include, or force you to use an undesirable or cumbersome format.

4. There can be a “transaction” fee charged for accessing your data or for each data download you receive.

Summary

Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck

Terminology definitions Connectivity Internet Security Maintenance, Support & Upgrades

• And a word about backups Cost

Summary and handouts