WEB SERVICES

ASP Tools for Software Development

Once upon a time, when computers were so expensive that not all companies could afford them, most of the processing was performed by specialized firms that rented computer time and services. Some of these organizations have a long history of providing such services; for instance, ADP. The development of Internet and Web-based applications has offered these firms a new infrastructure to offer their services. These companies are known as Applications Services Providers (ASPs). ASPs provide mainly software applications for the basic business functions of a company: human resources, accounting or customer relations, but there are also some organizations targeting the software development domain.

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By: Franco Martinig

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May 04, 2004

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Bug and defect tracking is one of the main areas for software development tools ASP. This can be explained by the development of many web-based tools in this area in recent years. External hosting of these tools was a natural extension for the development companies. This is also a function closely related to customer care (CRM) applications and external (Web) access could be part of the requirements. There is also a tendency to have multiple teams working on the same project, either to minimize costs or to find external competencies. Finally, the open source movement has completely integrated these activities, the main tool being provided by Bugzilla.org.

Available services:

Track components and versions, incidents, bugs or issues
Configurable workflow-based, alternate, multiple, and client approval policies
Time-based escalation of defect priority
Automatic defect assignment routing
User-defined entry forms, fields, alerts, and notifications
Configurable email notification schemes
Attach files, notes, documents, and links to items
Defect change history and audit trail

Project management and collaboration

Collaboration is a main issue of distributed teams since the Lotus Notes era of specific collaboration software. The widespread diffusion of the Internet has changed the vision of the market, but the need remains the same. Many ASPs offer services related to distributed software project management.

Available services:

Planning: Gantt, WBS Charts, critical path analysis
Calendars
Tasks
Issue management
Risk management
Resource management
Time, billing, cost and rate management
Discussions forum management
Files and document management
Security
MS Project integration
Office software integration
Email notifications and alerts
Project dashboard reports
Project analysis

Testing Web Applications

If you develop a web-based application, it is not always easy to test your website internally. There are so many web standards and particularities (different browsers for instance) that it can be helpful to be assisted by dedicated external test teams or software. After production release, external monitoring can help to monitor how a possible customer in Berlin can access your website in LA as the database gets loaded with data.

Available services:

Download and verify pages
Error diagnostics
Performance tracking
Screenshots of errors
Contact escalation levels
Unlimited mobile alerts
Interactive reports
Performance of Web transactions
Transaction availability
Changes in Web site content
Secure page performance
Redirection sequences
CGI queries
Authentication

Source hosting and configuration management

This is a strange area of the web-hosted software tools market. This kind of application is now widely adopted by all open source projects, but the market for commercial projects seems more underground and it could be difficult to find suppliers in this area. There is still reticence from companies about letting intellectual property like software code in the hands of third party. Some providers in this area are simply providing a hosted version and support of the open source CVS tool (http://www.cvshome.org/)

Available services: