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"CIO Insight" magazine did a recent survey of 240 CIO's on which new technologies will boost revenue for their companies.

And guess what? Rich Internet Applications(RIA) ranked as Number 2 (23.6%), right after SOA (23.9%).

Last year, I had mentioned in an interview with Dr. Dobbs about RIA as the low hanging fruit for the enterprises to embrace Web 2.0 for business benefits. Jeffrey Hammond of Forrester Research mentioned in a keynote address at WebBuilder 2.0 last December that for enterprises to endorse Web 2.0, the future is now. He also mentioned that 32% of the enterprises surveyed by Forrester were using or considering RIA. Therefore, the CIO Insight survey showing RIA as second highest in priority to boost revenue does not come as a surprise.


Curl's RIA Platform has been used by over 300 enterprises and many have shown quantitative benefits to their business, over the client-server applications. The requirements to use RIA at the enterprise level is very different and much more stringent. They are looking for industrial-strength attributes such as high performance, extreme reliability, very high security, and big-time scalability. I recently blogged about what questions companies need to ask RIA vendors. Just getting a Flash video stream is not good enough for business-critical applications.

Earlier this year, Curl was awarded the best RIA Platform by InfoWorld. The proof is always with real deployment and benefits by customers.

Mike Vizard of eWeek refers to this survey in his recent blog. He covered the importance of RIA and mentioned Curl as a vendor to watch last December.
When it comes to Enterprise RIA, Curl clearly is the defacto leader.

Tags: curl, enterprise2.0, enterprise_ria, forrester, ria, webbuilder2.0


Add a comment Leave a comment on this blog post.
May 27, 2008 9:11 AM Reply Guest Sebastien Arbogast

"When it comes to Enterprise RIA, Curl clearly is the defacto leader."

It's not because you say it that it's true. I mean I haven't had a look at it for 4-5 years or so but I guess Curl applications still need a Curl-specific runtime in the browser. If it is true, then considering the low penetration rate of this very specialized runtime and the paranoia of IT departments when it comes to deploying new extensions throughout their network, I can't possibly understand how you can make such a bold statement.

And I'm not even talking about the learning curve for the Curl language and the small number of resources to maintain Curl applications...

I mean, I keep extremely good memories of the technology itself but when it comes to Enterprise RIA, strategic elements such as penetration and integration in existing infrastructures is at least as important as the technology itself. And I'm sorry for Curl but others had an advantage on that field well before they even entered the RIA field.

May 27, 2008 9:28 AM Reply Guest Jnan Dash in response to: Sebastien Arbogast

Sebastien,
Since you saw Curl, we have seen the largest "actual" deployment of Curl in very large enterprises such as Panasonic, NTT, Paisley and others, mostly in Japan. No other RIA technology has seen such usage in "business-critical" applications for large enterprises. Adobe's Flex is mostly used in media apps for consumers. Silverlight is too new to comment on. Ajax has proven to be highly inadequate for enterprise RIA (security exposure, poor performance). Our large clients do not mind the client-side plug-in, as it gives them huge advantages. Curl is mostly deployed for B2B (Business to Business) or B2E (Business to Employees, internal applications). It is the favorite platform to migrate the traditional client-server applications to the web.
I suggest you take a fresh look at Curl and not judge it by your memories from 4-5 years ago.
Jnan

May 27, 2008 9:37 AM Reply Click to view RMH's profile RMH in response to: Jnan Dash

I don't know what Curl was like for developers 4 or 5 years ago but today its really good. For example, the learning curve is actually shorter and more genetle with Curl than it is with Adobe Flex/ActionScript 3/MXML or Ajax (especially Ajax). Also we have hundreds of enterprise insulations that required high security and performance - not to mention artistic presentation. You won't find a RIA technology with a better track record. One more thing: Curl actually predates Flex, Silverlight and even Ajax as a RIA solution. Java was the first RIA solution; Curl was the second.

Anyway, good discussion. Keep it going!

May 27, 2008 11:10 AM Reply Click to view cbarber's profile cbarber in response to: Sebastien Arbogast

Yes, Curl needs a separate runtime/browser plug-in, as does Flex/AIR, Silverlight and JavaFX. The only RIA solution that only depends on the browser is AJAX, but then you are stuck with all of the limitations of browser-bound JavaScript, which simply does not come close to approaching the needs of middle to high-end enterprise applications.

Really IT departments should be even more paranoid about installing high-profile consumer runtimes such as Flash or Silverlight knowing that they will be prime targets for hackers, and indeed Microsoft's and Adobe's track records on security flaws have not been all that good.

You are correct to imply that huge companies such as Adobe and Microsoft have an inherent marketing advantage over Curl, but we are confident that there is plenty of room in the market to accommodate a superior product from a smaller vendor.

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