Projects - Infogenics
The Infogenics Demonstration Web Site was created to allow prospects
to try out Dynamics ERP and Siebel CRM applications at their own
pace without a committment to purchase. All accounting and CRM applications were
populated with sample data and enabled with the entire product suite
of optional modules. Each page has a description of the application
features and benefits and a link to launch it. Since these
applications were implemented as Windows client programs for the
desktop using a
ODBC connection to a SQL Server 2000 backend data base engine, there
was a question of how to present the application to the prospect.
The answer was to use a web browser to
present the prospect with a live interactive session in which they
could use the application. Citrix MetaFrame 1.8 for Windows 2000
Server was chosen for its ability to host multiple user sessions and
publish the application so it could be delivered using the Citrix
ICA client as an ActiveX or Java component through the web browser. This
delivery method allowed the salesperson to "shadow" the prospect's
session in manner similar to PC Anywhere or Webex. Since both
parties had a common desktop, view and controls, it allowed the
salesperson to tailor the experience to the prospect's application
requirements.
Click here to see a conceptual diagram.
An added feature was the ability of the prospect's technical and
user community to sample the actual speed of the application across
the internet. In many instances, this led to a decision to deploy
the application through ASP partner organizations. A Microsoft
Terminal Server or Citrix solution allowed to customer to install
the client application once on a server and have the remote desktops
connect using a browser or the Microsoft or Citrix thin client. In
any event, the requirement to visit each workstation and perform a
singular installation was eliminated.
Currently, Microsoft uses the "virtual lab" concept
consisting of spinning up a Hyper-V virtual machine to
allow a customer to "kick the tires".