Adesso Systems is working on “The Next Big Thing” in synchronized distributed applications that work across all devices from server to client to wireless edge devices. The explosion of wireless devices such as SmartPhones, PocketPC’s, PDA’s, laptops, and other devices has given us more ways to communicate but has created a huge problem for application developers.
Adesso’s secret sauce is a replication and synchronization engine that keeps application data and application logic synchronized across all devices. The Adesso platform tailors the application for each device. So for example, small form factor wireless devices get a version of the application and data that is usable for them while desktop PC’s get a richer version. The cool thing is that Adesso keeps the “state” of application data and logic synchronized across all devices. Adesso enables the power of the connected model, even when you can't connect to the network. A new mantra “Always Available Computing” is emerging and Adesso makes it possible.
Let’s use a real world example. Your sales person has a desktop PC in the office, a laptop for the road, and a wireless PDA type device for everywhere. Let’s say he is in the office in the morning and uses his desktop PC to update the financial forecast system, and books a new order in the Order Entry system. Before leaving the office his other devices are automatically synchronized so that he can effectively work offline. In the afternoon he visits a customer who changes their existing order to double the units, and they need delivery of half the units in two weeks and the other half in a month. Meanwhile, back at headquarters the IT staff has made a change to the Order Entry system that adds a new field for Accounts Payable Contact Name and Telephone Number and is required before any order will be approved. The salesman uses his wireless device to update the Order Entry system and notices the new field in the form. He adds the required information and updates the order. Later that night in the hotel room our dedicated sales guy is using his laptop connected to the wireless network to update the financial forecast and generate reports for a meeting with his manager in the morning.
Our sales person has used three different devices to update two different applications, one of which was changed during the day. Adesso keeps all the devices synchronized with the latest data, and the latest application logic, whenever they are connected, and allows them to work offline when they are not. Although this sounds logical enough it has been nearly impossible to do until now. Adesso Systems provides a platform and tools that makes this kind of “always available” computing possible. Think about the productivity gains and cost savings that are possible when all employees have the latest data and application logic available.
My colleague Cliff Reeves has worked in this space for many years at Lotus and at Microsoft. In his blog he describes the problem this way;
So what's the right application platform for when you want to have your data all the time -- even when you aren't connected to the network? Well, it's some sort of continual and opportunistic replication. Whenever you have connectivity, data moves from your local PC or device to your server, and vice versa. When you are disconnected, you likely have all the data you need, and you can work on what you have.
Combine this underlying replication model with a rich set of ways to view, create and protect data (not dissimilar to the tables, forms and views model you see in Notes, or even Access) and a rich set of semantics for data access rights (John can see this, but Cliff can see this and change it), and you have a powerful and highly approachable way to build distributed business applications.
There is a lot of technology under the covers. Adesso’s architecture features an intelligent synchronization engine to give distributed workers all the benefits of full-time connectivity even when reality only permits occasional connectivity. With synchronization, you can easily refresh your applications by communicating with a central database when a connection is available or at scheduled intervals. Data replication policies can be set allowing you to target who has what data, when, and where. Partial replicas can be tailored to honor individual access rights, distribute only what is needed to do the job, or only as much as a particular device can handle. Security is automatically enforced without user intervention. All data is encrypted “over the wire” and when saved on disk.
Phil Stanhope and Sam Gentile are both key players at Adesso. I worked with both of them At Groove Networks. These guys are rock stars in the geek world. John Landry is chairman and CTO. This company is loaded with talent and great technology.
Earlier this year Adesso won the “Product of the Year” award from Planet PDA. If you are trying to keep applications updated and data synchronized on many different devices across the globe you should take a look at Adesso Systems. Always Available Computing could be the Next Big Thing.
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