SILICON OFFICE employs a revolutionary application model which provides the unique capability to develop on-line applications, which can be run by anyone in the world, at a fraction of the cost and time normally associated with traditional development techniques.

Traditionally, user interfaces are developed as applications, but with the explosion of the internet and the introduction of intranets, more and more interfaces are being developed using Web-based technologies.

Web based interfaces provide reduced maintenance, and simplified deployment, however this often comes at the price of reduced functionality and features, and is costly and time consuming to develop. This interface uses HTML pages, which by themselves can be eye pleasing, but they are static and limited in functionality. Changing a web page’s content or layout after it has loaded requires a request to the server and a reload of the page, ultimately resulting in lower performance, limited scalability and frustrated users.

Traditional applications, offer the most functionality and flexibility. They can be developed rapidly and have almost unlimited capabilities, however this often comes at the price of complex deployment and high cost of maintenance. The developed application usually comprises a small number of large files. These files must be delivered, installed and configured locally on the users machine before they can be used. Changes to the application require complete re-delivery of the files to the user.

SILICON OFFICE breaches this void and provides a solution to the problem. Applications developed in Silicon Office offer the functionality and flexibility of traditional applications. They can be developed rapidly and can have almost unlimited capabilities. A Silicon Office application is structured and delivered in page(file) format, like web based interfaces, to reduce maintenance and simplify deployment. The pages in a Silicon Office application provides dynamic access to data and information stored on the web server.

SILICON OFFICE applications are developed using the Silicon Office Application Generator or Publisher, on a local machine, the pages generated by Silicon Office can then be posted to the internet. The pages, and therefore the application, is then accessible directly from the internet from users which have the Silicon Office Application Browser* installed on their computer. No application specific configuration, installation or local setup is required on the users machine. Any changes to the application pages are automatically available and implemented into the users application.

Users can generate their own web sites, using Silicon Office. The site runs as a fully functioning application using Silicon Office generated pages, which could be combined with the graphical pleasantry’s of HTML and image files. More trusted visitors, can be allowed access to sensitive information, perhaps allowing them to place orders, view order progress, and pay their invoices etc. Intranets, where internal only access is granted, could host a more complex application, such as centralized stock control, order processing, contact management and accounts.

Development of these types of systems using traditional web development tools, would not be practical or cost effective. Silicon Office allows you to implement these systems, with the minimum amount of effort, time and cost.

See our Online Technology Case for a more detailed presentation and comparison of the SILICON OFFICE application model.

* Silicon Office Application Browser requires files to be generated using the Silicon Office Application Publisher.