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IBM, one of the most influential players in the enterprise application space, has adopted RIA for its enterprise product lines. Personally, I believe this is a big deal because it finally validates the value of RIA in the enterprise space. When I think of IBM, the first impression comes to my mind it big and slow. It represents the early majority on the bell curve at best, and that’s why its every move carries so much clout. Just like how it brought Linux into the enterprise IT mainstream, IBM has given enterprise RIA its final nod.

Like many enterprise vendors, IBM adopted RIA not because it was hip, but it made business sense. The end users of enterprise applications are highly paid information workers. A well designed RIA can significantly reduce training cost and boost worker productivity, both of which could have direct impact on the bottom line. Businesses simply cannot ignore the benefits of enterprise RIA. With solid platforms like Flex and the proliferation of SOA, it’s now more cost effective than ever to build enterprise RIA.

Looking back, IBM’s decision to embrace Linux instead of building it’s own OS was definitely a stroke of genius. It’s highly likely that IBM will settle on a existing RIA platform than building its own. With the Flash and Flex moving towards the OSS direction, it could be the most attractive choice for IBM.

Need to bring your Flex project up to speed? Zee Yang is a freelance Flex developer with deep understanding of architecture and user experience. You can reach him at zee.yang@gmail.com.

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