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And here's an example from a hotel:

Instead of having an onsite server running property management system software that has to synchronize inventory with the central reservation system, a web based property management system you can access via a browser has the following benefits for the hotel owner:

1) Don't have to worry about server HDD failures, or any other hardware failures.

2) If power goes out, just browse to the website with a mobile device.

3) Never any inventory issues since there is no synchronization that needs to be done.

4) Revolving door of minimum wage front desk workers who install malware on your Windows computers can't do that anymore if using an iPad or iPad like device, and if they do, it wouldn't result in liability due to theft of people's data. See Marriott/IHG data leaks a few years ago.

5) Lowers labor costs since you don't need someone to troubleshoot technical stuff, other than get a device with an internet connection and a browser.

6) Can move towards a self check in check out system where the guest can basically do it all via an app or the hotel's website, further reducing labor costs.

7) Features can be updated and implemented far more easily when hardware features don't have to be worried about.



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Because code can replace remote management in a far more efficient system

I can see productivity gains in that more can be done without messing with a server side web framework, so there could be less maintenance.

I don't really get the benefits. You don't need servers, but you need to host the JS/html5 application somewhere, even if you don't need to configure the database server etc.

It is nice technology, but I don't really see if it is worth the price (vendor lock-in, technology lock-in, etc.)


The benefit is to their paymasters, as they get to extract rent (either directly or via ads) without having to contend with software pirates because the actual software logic is sitting pretty in a server cluster somewhere.

Effectively we are back to the world of time-share terminals.


There are a few advantages to being completely managed, rather than using native code. Portability (eg. mobile devices, different OSes), and functional code access security are two reasons that come to mind for me.

Probably the most obvious is your business has a business application that runs on it. Hospitality stuff and financial stuff runs on it. This stuff allowed companies to do offsite failover reliably and with a pool of “certified professionals” before much modern tech took hold.

Nowadays probably applications which really need reliability and uptime would benefit the most. Logistics stuff where you really need a central source of truth. Etc.

Or you’re the kind of programmer who wants a system that treats objects as full first class objects.


1) easier to maintain state 2) store arbitrary amounts of data 3) static assets are served just on download/updates 4) loads a lot faster 5) smoother UI (this requires effort I admit) 6) background network usage (browser will put a tab to sleep when you navigate away)

It's also a huge plus for places that lock down their computers so you can't install software on them.

I used to use WebEx on a personal laptop for work conversations with other organisations because my work machine wouldn't allow it to run properly.


On-Premises is also "one less third-party service to manage". I work for a small company, and was asked to list the external services we use a couple of days ago, and the list went into dozens.

It's not the primary reason for On Premises, but it's one less thing to worry about: "our tech team has full control, instead of yet another company having some control that we can't see"


The only advantage I can think of in this scenario is monitoring of employees.

As for disadvantages:

- no work offline

- no freedom for different OS, IDE, tools

- Single Point of Failure (that server goes down, connection drops and nobody can do any work).

IMO the cons are much worse than the pros. I am curious what other advantages you would see in this approach.

EDIT: grammar, format


* Natural Language instructions -- no need to remember commands, just speak to it like you would to a human. * Easier to integrate new services * No need to maintain servers

There are two closely coupled benefits: ease of installation (one machine to do so) and ease of upgrade (again, single machine).

That said, I much prefer desktop applications to web-based ones, especially when it's not me who hosts them. They may disappear overnight, they may break overnight, I don't control backups for them, I need constant internet access to use them (sometimes I work off-line, so this is a big no-no).

And web applications on modern hardware (which I don't own, because why should I? my Dell D830 works satisfactory) are almost as fast as desktop applications on my older hardware. Meaning, they're slow.


The other obvious - it potentially makes your server management much easier, particularly if you need a lot of computing power, or lots of servers quickly.

Simple: every machine has already installed the gateway to your program: a web browser. No need to deal with issues like antivirus going bonkers, weird MSVCRT versions installed leading to support requests, you save a ton of money when you need to support OS X or god forbid Linux, and last but not least, an SaaS business model has recurring revenues while it doesn't have to deal with rampant piracy at the same time.

The big one is convenience: if you need to do some quick maintenance from a computer you're not usually using, it's fast and easy to do so here (e.g. if you want to administer your server from a firewalled work PC, or from your parents' house).

As a business expense it seems like a no-brainer, especially with features oriented around security like remote wiping, account transferring and more detailed logs.

Faster, better at handling multiple users, smarter, web based.

And also free with whatever package you're already paying for :-)


The advantage is reduced server costs + more efficient use of computing resources in general. I personally am always happy to offload processing to the client side wherever possible.

It seems to offer a convenience for the services integrating with it that wasn't possible before. If it's a nice addition for the customer then they get value out of it.
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