Integrating enterprise applications is a job that is never complete and it usually requires gobs of time and money. Recognizing the former and addressing the latter, KnowNow takes a simple, lightweight approach to application integration with LiveServer 3.0.
LiveServer is middleware that supports real-time interapplication messaging via HTTP, using a publish-and-subscribe model. Applications, including Web browsers and spreadsheets, can use KnowNow-supplied components called connectors to publish to the server or subscribe to its message queues. But because LiveServer is built on top of HTTP, connectors are optional and extending integration to applications outside the firewall is a no-brainer. Any application that can perform an HTTP POST operation can use LiveServer.
LiveServer installs easily on Windows (Linux and Solaris are also supported) and in minutes I was connecting applications together. I tried out LiveServer’s Web page updater in real-time by subscribing to a SOAP-based currency exchange rate server. Creating real-time Web pages was as simple as including some JavaScript.
I also connected two spreadsheets together using LiveSheet, KnowNow’s connector for Microsoft Excel. Any cell in any spreadsheet can subscribe to any published cell in any other spreadsheet, turning Excel into an alternative Web browser for real-time data sharing. Think of it as instant messaging for data.
One of the great challenges -- and opportunities -- for IT departments is moving time-critical, task-specific messaging out of e-mail. Not only is LiveServer an effective tool for doing that, its ability to handle this task piecemeal means that the time between installation and seeing value can be very short.
LiveServer 3.0
KnowNow
Cost: LiveServer 3.0 is priced per session or per node. Typical price for a proof of concept is $25,000. Enterprise deployments range from $100,000 to $500,000.
Available: Now
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