As Personal Computers appeared on every desktop, information system designers searched for a way to utilize the processing power and powerful user interface that they provided. IS managers had problems distributing and maintaining this software. Then the Web provided a different, yet curiously familiar alternative. Browsers, and portable languages like Java, provide a common interface to clients on any desktop system. Applications can be stored at a central site and distributed through the network on demand.
Users are familiar with the Web, so they require less training.
The real attraction of this design, is that it reproduces the original central corporate network design, just replacing Browsers for terminals and changing the network protocol. Before the Web can make a transition from the distribution of advertising copy to a serious business transaction processing system, people must learn how to develop applications. Vendors have released a large number of isolated development products, but there is generally accepted strategy. This article will present a survey of the problem and many proposed solutions. Different vendor strategies arise from deep philosophical, almost religious differences.