Rich Internet
Applications level the playing field between Internet
and desktop applications by removing complexity from
transactions online and offering many benefits to businesses
that want to achieve a strong return on investment. Profitable
companies succeed by making it easier for customers,
partners and employees to do business with them and
thus make transactions as simple as possible. RIAs allow
companies to remove the complexity from transactions
through desktop-like interfaces and intuitive processes. Many
organizations have taken advantage of the benefits of
RIAs to accomplish many things, including:
- Develop new kinds of applications with features or
capabilities that would be extremely difficult or impossible
for a developer to create using traditional Web technologies.
- Engage, guide and listen to their customers online
more intimately or more closely to how they would do
it in person to increase loyalty, improve service,
deepen the customer relationship, distinguish the company
or guide product development.
- Create compelling, attractive websites using audio,
video, text and graphics that generate leads, increase
sales, simplify communication and create a unique online
experience worth returning to.
- Simplify typically complex processes like registration,
configuration or purchasing leading to increased leads,
sales, bookings, time on the site and repeat visits.
- Present information to their employees, management
and partners in clear, innovative, intuitive and effective
ways to increase productivity, information sharing,
decision-making and competitive advantage.
- Provide an engaging, highly interactive presentation
layer to underlying Web services.
- Reduce bandwidth costs associated with frequent page
refresh for high traffic sites.
- Dramatically increase sales of their products and
services through their Internet channel.
- Build an engaging, highly interactive website or
application at a reduced cost compared to using alternative
Web technologies.
(Source — IDC, Macromedia & Intel, 2003)
User expectations continue to rise above current technological
advances. It is no longer acceptable to click through
four Web pages in order to make a purchase online. If
a glitch is encountered along the way, users will end
the transaction and search for another site where the
process runs more smoothly.
RIAs eliminate the multi-page
for multi-step transactions by presenting all pertinent
information to users without leaving the initial environment.
This simplifies the process for users who proceed to
purchase the product and returns again because the experience
was quick, easy and enjoyable. Users find the experience
to be pleasant and talk about it with coworkers and friends
who then proceed to look at the site, find the process
just as smooth and continue to return.
Distributing information and training employees through
Intranets is also achieved through RIAs that streamline
the education process and keep information easily accessible
to all. Companies can track training and make adjustments
for future sessions in order to get better results. Meanwhile,
the employees easily communicate with each other and
better serve customers with easy access to company information
through the RIAs developed for the Intranet.
Offering better online experiences for consumers as
well as employees are just a couple reasons why companies
are quickly adopting RIA technology.
See HOW
you can harness the power of RIA Technology >
|
