ARE YOU SURFING WITHOUT A LIFE JACKET? LOOKING AT THE PROS AND CONS OF WEB BASED SOFTWARE Karen Burkhardt, Mobilitat Software

Choosing the right software can be difficult…

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support, & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions Desktop/Networking overview Client-Server overview LAN, WAN, VPN networks Firewalls and vulnerability Bandwidth

STAND- ALONE PC In the beginning…

…and then there were two

TYPICAL DATABASE APPLICATION MODEL DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA SERVER APPLICATION SOFTWARE CLIENT PC …then things became more complicated

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions Desktop/Networking overview Client-Server overview LAN, WAN, VPN networks Firewalls and vulnerability Bandwidth

DATABASE ON A CLIENT SERVER NETWORK INTERNET CABLE/DSL MODEM ROUTER/ FIREWALL NETWORK PRINTER NETWORK HUB CLIENT PC DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA SERVER APPLICATION SOFTWARE SERVER DATABASE ON A CLIENT SERVER NETWORK INTERNET CABLE/DSL MODEM ROUTER/ FIREWALL NETWORK PRINTER NETWORK HUB CLIENT PC DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA SERVER APPLICATION SOFTWARE SERVER …add a database to the network

using the internet as a private network

then things became …and a larger network then we’ll worry about

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions Desktop/Networking overview Client-Server overview LAN, WAN, VPN networks Firewalls and vulnerability Bandwidth  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support, & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity Types of connections  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security Data, data…  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Internet Security Data, data… 1.Where is your data stored? 2.In what format is your data stored? If it is stored in a proprietary format, can the data be downloaded so you can use it in other programs? 3.What are the privacy policies you need to follow? 4.Does the web host have a written privacy policy? 5.What will happen to your data if you want to stop contracting with the web software provider, or worse, if the software provider goes out of business? 6.Some web hosts do not actually store data themselves, but contract with a third party for data storage. Because there are no laws governing remote data storage, it is up to your vendor to make sure that your organizations’ data aren't being misused.

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades And a word about backups  Cost  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost And a word about reporting  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades  Cost And a word about reporting 1.There can be charges for creating each new report or for modifying report formats. 2.There can be a significant time delay in obtaining new reports. 3.You might not be able to access your data at will. Export/Import tools that are available to you might exclude some data fields you would like them to include, or force you to use an undesirable or cumbersome format. 4.There can be a “transaction” fee charged for accessing your data or for each data download you receive.  Summary

 Goals of presentation – more bang for your software buck  Terminology definitions  Connectivity  Internet Security  Maintenance, Support & Upgrades And a word about backups  Cost  Summary and handouts