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The arrival of the Web 2.0 wave has far-reaching implications for web applications, web users and for companies that do business over the Internet or use web-enabled business applications in enterprise environments. In short, Web 2.0 is a huge technology trend that will revolutionize the way users interact with the web and the way enterprises use and manage web-enabled applications.
But what is Web 2.0? While the name suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, that's not the case. Instead, Web 2.0 is a loosely defined term that can refer to a second generation of web-based applications and the technologies that support them. The term can also refer to the transformation of websites into computing platforms that support thin client computing and the enablement of greater sharing of information, including sites built around user-generated content.
Under any definition, Web 2.0 applications leverage advanced Rich Internet Application (RIA) technologies (such as Ajax and Adobe Flex), along with enablers (such as RSS and blogs). From an end-user perspective, these technologies allow a richer, faster, more interactive experience with browser-enabled applications and services. From an enterprise perspective, these RIA technologies help companies deploy new, customerfriendly application functionality in less time and at a lower cost.
Today, RIA technologies are making dramatic inroads in corporate environments. Industry analysts expect that by 2010, the majority of new application development projects will include RIA technology, and a large percentage of those projects will rely primarily on RIA. Here's one example of how fast RIA is moving: By 2008, an estimated 20 percent of banks will deploy at least one channel using RIA client technology.
One of the big reasons for the growth of RIA technologies is a better user experience. This stems from the asynchronous nature of server requests from clients using Web 2.0 applications. Unlike a conventional web application, the Web 2.0 approach refreshes only what is updated on a web page, instead of refreshing the entire page. In this sense, the application acts like a thick client?but without client software other than the web browser.
By avoiding the time lags associated with interactive web applications, these next-generation applications deliver a faster, easier and smoother user experience. They essentially turn a sluggish click-and-wait process into a streamlined workflow, similar to the experience of using desktop productivity applications (such as the Microsoft? Office system).
But this enhanced experience isn't a given. While these rich next-generation applications promise a radically different customer experience, they also have the potential to overwhelm the servers and networks that deliver the content to client browsers. Both the promise and the potential pitfalls stem from the unique ability of RIA technologies to continually exchange small and granular amounts of data with a server. When thousands of users are interacting nearly continuously with an application, the strains on the back-end servers can be enormous.
The same type of issue holds true if your company is deploying mission-critical applications that use RIA technologies. As evidenced by recent surveys, many large enterprises are considering or already implementing these technologies. And major providers of enterprise applications, including Oracle and SAP, are updating their application portfolios based on a Web 2.0 technology stack. So clearly, Ajax is here today.
Given the potential peak demands of these nextgeneration applications, it's wise to approach the Web 2.0 wave with caution. For example, how do you know how well these applications will perform? And how do you know whether they will collapse under the weight of certain loads? This is very different from a web application in which a user click results in an immediate transaction with the server. So before Ajax or other RIA technologies can be ready for prime time in your business, you need to verify that they can deliver enterprise-scale performance.
All of this points to the need for sophisticated tools to test the performance of Web 2.0 applications and services in a pre-production environment. In short, when you're rolling out these next-generation applications on an e-commerce site or a mission-critical enterprise application platform, you need to be confident that your systems can handle the loads. Yet with conventional performance testing solutions, this is easier said than done. There are many unknowns in stress testing Web 2.0 applications.
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