| |
|
|
| Java & J2EE |
| Alpha supports Java and J2EE applications and consulting services: |
| |
| SOA & Web Services |
Most enterprises have made significant investments in system resources. Such enterprises have an enormous amount of data stored in legacy enterprise information systems and therefore, it is not practical to discard existing systems; it's more cost-effective to evolve and enhance these systems. This is accomplished with Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
SOA is emerging as the premier integration and architecture framework in today's computing environment. Previously, corporations relied on proprietary APIs and required a high degree of coordination between groups. SOA can help organizations streamline processes so that they can do business more efficiently and adapt to changing needs and competition.
SOA is an architectural style for building software applications that use services available in a network such as the web. It promotes loose coupling between software components so that they can be reused. Applications in SOA are built based on services. SOA allows for the reuse of existing assets where new services can be created from an existing IT infrastructure of systems. In other words, it enables businesses to leverage existing investments by allowing them to reuse existing applications and promises interoperability between heterogeneous applications and technologies.
Web services are software systems designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network. This interoperability is gained through a set of XML-based open standards, such as WSDL, SOAP, and UDDI. These standards provide a common approach for defining, publishing, and using web services. |
| |
| Web 2.0 |
The term Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design that aims to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services and applications.
Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just retrieve information. They can build on the interactive facilities of Web 1.0 to provide "Network As Platform" computing, allowing users to run software-applications entirely through a browser. Users can own the data on a Web 2.0 site and exercise control over that data. These sites may have an "Architecture of Participation" that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it. This stands in contrast to the traditional websites which limited visitors to viewing and whose content could only be modified by the site owner. |
| |
| Rich Client Technologies |
A “fat” client or “rich” client is a computer (client) in client-server architecture networks which typically provides rich functionality independently of the central server. Originally known as just a “client” or “thick client”, the name is contrasted to “thin client”, which describes a computer heavily dependent on a server's applications.
A fat client still requires at least periodic connection to a network or central server but is often characterized by the ability to perform many functions without that connection. In contrast, a thin client generally does as little processing as possible and relies on accessing the server each time input data needs to be processed or validated. |
| |
| Mission Critical Java Applications |
As the complexity of embedded systems evolves, real-time Java has come to play a more central role in large-scale applications that demand higher levels of abstraction, portability and dynamic behavior. Such applications are taking on roles in management of network infrastructure, automation of manufacturing processes and control of power generating equipment. To meet these demands, real-time Java vendors have moved increasingly into the mission-critical domain.
The accelerating move into mission critical and the expected eventual integration into safety-critical applications have increased the need to assure that Java can deliver reliable operations without exceeding resource constraints. Mission-critical computing involves a broad spectrum of applications. Given the breadth of domains spanned by mission-critical software, one challenge is to establish a sufficiently large area of common ground on which to base meaningful standards for mission-critical computing.
Part of what makes mission-critical software difficult is the need to integrate large numbers of independently developed components, each satisfying different mission objectives. Over time, most mission-critical systems scale upward in response to evolving requirements and expanding capacity. Each step of the integration process must preserve the key characteristics of each component so that no mission-critical objectives are ignored. |
| |
| Multimodal Platforms |
Multimodal platforms enable convergence of various modes of user interface interaction -- video, audio, text and images. They use Web (XHTML) and Voice technologies (VoiceXML) to offer a natural migration path from VoiceXML-based voice applications and XHTML-based visual applications to single application that can serve both these environments and multimodal ones.
Multimodal Platform allows one to use both voice and visual modes simultaneously to provide input and output. Multimodality gives end users the option to move from visual to voice mode and vice versa or to use both modes simultaneously using a mobile device. By combining both voice and visual interfaces, applications can exploit the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of both modes.
Key features of multimodal platforms include:
Multimodality
- Improves the mobile user interface, encouraging more mobile data application usage by consumers
Server-side Implementation
- Value remains in the mobile carrier network versus the handset
Network Agnostic & Standards-based
- Solutions operates over any current 2.5G and above network and is based on open standards, such as XML, VoiceXML, X + V, SALT, WML, XHTML or HTML.
Compatible with low-bandwidth environments
- Preserves valuable bandwidth. |
| |
| Lightweight JEE Frameworks |
| Development teams need light-weight JEE Frameworks that enable orthogonal aspects such as security, transactions, management and monitoring to POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) for developing enterprise applications. Some benefits of lightweight frameworks include: ease of implementing business requirements, simplicity, productivity, testability and object orientation. |
| |
| Technology Consulting |
Alpha’s Technology Consulting Services consists of:
- Technology/Product Evaluation
- Enterprise Technology Roadmap Definition
- Application Assessment |
| |
| PoCs |
| A Proof of Concept (POC) is a small exercise to test a discrete design idea or assumption. A POC should clearly state what it is to be proven and to what degree. The results of a POC need to be measurable so that they can be fed into the decision making process. Decisions should be based on thresholds such as a performance level that is acceptable. An example of a POC is testing whether one technology talks to another. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
