Reasons why Trackvia's online database is not better than a spreadsheet
Trackvia recently published a top 10 list of reasons an online database is better than a spreadsheet.
Their argument holds water when it's applied to disposable applications. But it's a colossal FAIL in the making when it's applied to professional developers or business-critical requirements.
Web applications certainly have a long list of real advantages over desktop apps. We are excited by the rich and fast Web apps that can be built using AJAX methods (which is why Alpha Five v10 will introduce codeless AJAX).
But when the development tool lives on a vendor's proprietary Web platform, you lose control. We think loss of control is reason enough to avoid Web-based development platforms like the plague for any non-trivial application development.
In the worst case scenario, you run a real risk of the vendor suspending service or going out of business. Remember Coghead? They were not the first Web-based dev platform to fail, and they won't be the last.
There are other risks. What happens when the Web-based dev tool company increases the cost of their service? Answer: Your operational costs go up. It's conceivable that a major price increase could raise your operational costs beyond the point of feasibility.
What if you're using a Web-based dev tool to build, sell, and operate a commercial on-demand application (SaaS/software as a service)? A price increase could break your business model.
In both cases, you're done. Out of business. Put a fork in it.
This problem isn't limited to Trackvia. It's a problem with all Web-based development environments (think Zoho, Caspio, etc.). Say you built a project manager using Intuit's Quickbase platform. Now suppose Intuit management decides to increase their monthly fees (maybe Wall Street is demanding more profits). This would threaten your business.
Simply put, it's too risky to have your business, or any business, held hostage by the model used by vendors of Web-based development tools..
By contrast, when your Web development tool is sitting on your desktop, you have ultimate control and flexibility. You can host your Web app with any ISP, across multiple ISPs for redundancy, on your servers, on a VPS, in the Amazon cloud, or on other clouds as they emerge.
Of course, all software development platforms present risk. (We published a white paper on this some time ago.) The choice is never easy or risk free. But some platforms have more risk than others. And all Web-based database platforms are bristling with risk, by their very definition.
1 comments:
Richard has made some good points, but it would be too easy for people like me who never heard of Trackvia to take those comments out of context and reach some completely wrong conclusions.
Richard is talking about an on-line database application building tool vs a desktop application building tool, not an on-line application vs a desktop application. Those of us using Alpha to build, use and sell web applications know that they can be very economical to use and easy to implement.
One application I'm involved with is a quality control application targeted at small businesses. It is very cost effective. Comparable desktop products cost over $30,000 and have annual support fees of thousnds of dollars, while the on-line application has a modest setup fee and a small monthly subscription price.
It requires little IT support. Desktop versions require servers and administrators and extensive testing and validation whenever new versions are released or technology changes. Subscription type web applications just require a browser and are primarily maintained by the user.
What about the risk of the supplier going out of business? Just make sure that in that event, you are entitled to a copy of the code that you can then run on your own server.
Post a Comment