Working on a proposal for a customer I find myself with the task of finding out what is the most appropriate scalable solution for a consumer web application that could possibly go to million users easily while maintaining the development cost from skyrocketing.  On the one hand, the LAMP architecture has shown that is scalable, as per the well know documented examples of LinkedIn and Facebook.  Plus, there is no licensing to worry about when it comes to the basic components of the architecture. However, almost every piece of the functionality in that stack would have to be written from scratch and the horizontal scaling requires a lot of upkeep with mostly manual tools built almost with bare hands.

On the other hand Java technologies have developed tremendously in the last few years and in terms of processing speed and development frameworks there is almost no comparison (maybe except for .Net) However, the cost in this scenario is on the licenses for the application server and support. This only if one wants to ensure that when the rubber meets the road (like when the application server is not behaving as expected) the vendor in question will step to the plate to support your application.  This is a though decision to make but doable with today’s knowledge pool and development communities. I will keep pondering and formulating scenarios…Any thoughts on this?

Very interesting website that evaluates hosted ERP Solutions. Great insight on who is who and what the process is to choose the right Enterprise Resource Planning application is for your organization. Enjoy!

ERP System Evaluation Criteria
Our ERP system evaluation and analysis procedure consists of a six step review process.

• In step one, we verify the hosted ERP systems are truly software as a service (SaaS) solutions. To meet this criteria, the ERP application should be a thin-client system operated entirely through a web browser, delivered remotely from a data center over the Internet, and procured with a subscription pricing model.
• In step two, we verify the full ERP software application scope. To meet the complete definition of an Enterprise Resource Planning application, the software should offer the following integrated modules:
  • Accounting or financial system
  • Distribution or supply chain management (SCM) system
  • Manufacturing or MRP (Material Requirement Planning) system
  • Human resource and payroll systems
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system
• In step three, we validate the application delivers a positive user experience and acceptable user performance. A few of the more technology advanced hosted solutions now leverage both a zero footprint client and AJAX browser-based technology …click in the link below to read the full article.

via ERPSoftware360.com

I found this great video from ZDNet where Vince Cesarez, VP of Product Management at Oracle explains simply and clearly some of the tools that create what we call Enterprise 2.0 and what pains these technologies address for the business. Great short video. Enjoy!