Collaborative Work

[Thorsten Hohage]

Hi all,

on thing to think about the weekend ...

I've had a customer who is using a Valentina based RB apps written on  
top of my frameworks - this is nothing to really talk about, but to  
clear the facts. They are a mac only company and IMHO they will for  
the lifetime of the app. During design time we talked about really  
everything many times and the result was: the same app for all three  
locations and each using a VServer and the "classical" RB app.

Now it happened what I expect from day ONE, they decided to need  
collaborative Work between the locations. For me there are several  
ways to offer this request now and I want to hear what you think will  
be the best option or why you never would go another way. Any input is  
welcome!


a) Using ONE VServer

While the main office in Hamburg is connected with a 2MB line the  
foreign locations are connected with common "speedy" DSL. So I think  
it's risky and if there will be a reason why the main office line it  
would happen (in sense of Murphy).

But it would be the cheapest and easiest way, just changing the  
connection settings, migrate all the data and they go.



b) (of-line) Replication

OK, waiting for Valentina 5 or 6 will not be an option, but of course  
I could implement a replication on my own. It would not be as fast as  
a native replication would be and it will be for sure a lot of work,  
but worth a thought. Every location can keep their own server, there  
is no issue, when a Internet connection is down.

But I'm afraid there must be defined so much rules and furthermore  
these rules must be learner and accepted(!!!) by the user, that I  
don't see, they will be happy with it. Additional there must be a  
replication administrator and I didn't see any staff who could do the  
job (NO - I really don't want to do it)



c) Transfer objects, ...

If a user needs contact details he requested them from the system and  
the original "owner" transfer them to him. Or if an estimate went over  
to another location and the invoice must be written there, they  
transfer it.

Think of it like dropping a vcf from Addressbook or inviting someone  
in an iCal-event.

Serializing / de-serializing is part of my framework, and of course  
there must be some work spend, but far less then a full replication  
system and furthermore, there are no rules to be respected. Of course  
there will be a lot of work to be done for a user, but they need to  
talk about the transfer, in every solution.



d) Web App

Trashing the whole application! Choosing probably PHP (or WebObjects)  
and Ajax and all the other fancy new Web2.0 stuff and create a real  
and full web app. They can host the complete app on an external  
server, there is no need to worry about to small connection of the  
foreign locations (and even better EVERY user can work EVERYWHERE he  
want!).

But, as I learned in my WebObjects days, there is a completely  
different user experience between a classical fat app and using a Web- 
Site.




My first reaction on this request was "hey, the project is finished -  
don't ask me!", but of course as a real developer I'm going to byte  
the bullet. I've my favorite, but I hope to get some new aspects on  
how to decide.



regards

Thorsten Hohage
--
objectmanufactur.com - Hamburg,Germany