Best laid plans

When Business Needs Change, Information Architecture

Can Facilitate or Cost a Bundle

By Dan Larson, Chief Development Officer, Epic Partners

Our clients don’t need to be visionaries to succeed in their ever-changing marketplaces.

They need technology that allows them to be flexible enough to meet market demands.

They need to be able to change their business models and still gain incremental revenues by leveraging their existing IT infrastructures.

They need to determine now how to build cost-effective technical solutions to accomplish their business objectives that won’t limit their capabilities in the near future.

A tall order?

Only when the focus is on information technology rather than information architecture.

It’s like finding the perfect drill that has the best bits to make the holes you need for one project without knowing whether or not other bits are available or how to change them if you decide to make something else.

Our clients have the right tool belts to pound out their next moves because we use open-source application server Enhydra to build their web applications with multi-tiered open information architecture.

What we’re doing is eliminating the shackles of applications that require specific hardware and platforms. Placing our codes inside the Enhydra framework, which uses industry-standards such as XML, allows our programs to run on any platform. And, they can be accessed from anywhere, wired or wireless, now or in the future.

Enhydra also lays the groundwork for multi-tiered architecture by separating the three programmable layers of a web site. Our clients benefit because we can develop sites faster when technicians building the presentation portion (in HTML/WML) and business logic/database functions (in JAVA/XML) can work simultaneously. Down the road, there is great advantage in having the flexibility to make changes with minimal impact to the organization – taking advantage of industry changes and technical innovation more rapidly than the competition.

The open nature of our information architecture allows us to incorporate or add components to meet needs now and increase functionality later. One example is our advanced portlett solution that delivers location-specific content to any portal site. Because it is platform independent, it can be cost-effectively integrated into existing systems and transfer information to any device. So, a company could provide localized information to customers across the country or allow outside sales reps to access regional statistics via their cellular phones or palm pilots without undergoing significant site modification and the associated investment of time and dollars.

There are also advantages of working with an open-source application server of Enhydra’s caliber with the support and service of Lutris Technologies. Having the source code available allows our technicians to troubleshoot more quickly, determine whether a problem is due to the server or their own code, and fully assess how the two are working together. This facilitates our ability to build or change the information architecture that will help our clients rapidly gain or maintain competitive advantage in their marketplaces.

And then, there’s the cost factor. Not only do we save our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars by using Enhydra instead of purchasing commercial application servers, it doesn’t cost any more to design and develop a robust, flexible information architecture than establish a typical framework that can not readily accommodate future business needs.

Like everyone, our clients don’t necessarily know what’s to come. But, they have the vision to use flexible, scaleable information architecture so they can be ready to meet new demands without excessive time and cost.

Editor’s Note: Epic Partners is a national information technology services provider that delivers total business solutions in custom wired and wireless application development, systems integration, e-commerce, multi-service network integration, strategic services, managed services and strong project management. With offices in Orange County, Calif. and St. Louis, the company’s management team is comprised of seasoned business and technical experts with successful backgrounds in healthcare and retail banking. Dan Larson can be reached at 636/530-1028 or dlarson@epicpartners.com.