LongJump, a leading Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) software provider, announced the availability of Version 7.0 of their application platform which adds a range of collaboration capabilities for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications. This new release focuses on helping ISVs (independent software vendors), their developers, distributor and partner channels, and customers collaborate seamlessly with each other within the platform.

Says LongJump CEO Pankaj Malviya:

“SaaS technology vendors today must address the fact that web users all want to work better together. LongJump Version 7 provides a premier platform for addressing social networking, community building, and collaboration that naturally extends into enterprise business applications.”

You can read the entire press release here.

Technorati Tags: developers, isv, PaaS, saas, var

Timesheet Manager is a web-based customizable timesheet/timecard management application. It features ready-to-use timesheets that can be related to employee data as well as other objects such as Accounts or Projects.

The app is constructed around three objects.

• The Timesheet object, used for recording weekly timecards for each employee
• The Daily Timecard object, which is the “Detail” object to the Timesheet “Master” object (you can read more about Master-Detail relationships in our wiki)
• The Employee Rate Table object, which is used for “looking up” an hourly rate to fill in some Timesheet values

Some enhancements to the Timesheet Manager go beyond just objects and fields including:

• Using a Formula to set the Default Value for Week Start as the nearest Sunday
• Using a Formula field to automatically determine Week End
• Using a Formula to set the Weekday based on the Daily Timecard Day
• Using Rollup Summary Fields to sum up hours recorded by Daily Timecards to the main Timesheet
• Using a Data Policy to execute Java Code that converts a Rollup Value to a Number Value
• An approval workflow to ensure management sign-off
• Reports for current hours/wages anticipated and approved wages
• Using a Post Selection JavaScript when a user completes an Employee lookup to the Rate Table to automatically retrieve the Hourly Rate

Of course, you can completely modify this app to suit your needs. We’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions on this app as well as any permutations that this app has inspired in your business.

You can Test Drive the Timesheet Manager app here, or install it into your account (Free!).

Technorati Tags: application development, developers, enterprise applications, formula, master-detail, rollup, timecard, timesheet, workflow

I don’t know a single programmer who likes wasted effort. In fact, there’s a beauty to what they do, much like a poet, when they are able to refine and compress layers of code into well-thought out simplicity and modularity. It is this very reason the LongJump platform was created.

So here are some ways that Platform-as-a-Service can make Programmers happy:Cut the Code

One of PaaS’s inherent benefits is about leveraging existing functionality across multiple applications all on one instance. That means specific object models and processes or custom code can be used across all apps running on the platform. You build things once, rather than try and invent the wheel with every project. That reduces coding requirements and maintenance. Programmers can then focus on unique projects and core applications, rather than common stuff, which leads us to…

Make Programming Fun

Programmers think programming is fun. That’s why they do it into the wee hours. There’s something about taking nothing and turning it into real processes that make life ultimately better. So, should they focus on stuff they did last time (for example, building another reporting component) or should they spend their energy on new challenges? Platform-as-a-Service frees programmers from such monotony and gives them more time to spend on other challenges.

Everything is Connected

PaaS puts a lot of focus on foundation building and as a result, when a programmer creates some model or process in PaaS, it has serious reuse potency. Programmers can leave their mark on a core piece of the pie that becomes the norm through all applications that come afterwords.

Empower Them

With PaaS, the status of the programmer is ultimately elevated. Why? Primarily because a lot of common lifting is being done at the IDE levels where business people are essentially mapping out their own data and processes, the programmer is called in when serious effort is required. Maybe it’s a JavaScript or a creation of a class element or a SOAP connector, but PaaS lets programmers go beyond the minutiae of daily business processes and solve the key technical problems.

Reduce Deployment Lag

Most PaaS instances are live. There’s a beauty to that in being able to build, test, and deploy in the same day rather than having to go through big deployment efforts. (You still can have a formal release process if your PaaS supports multiple instances). For a programmer, that means their work is happening in lock step at times with requests that are being made. Technology is no longer the gating item, and instead the overall business approach becomes what needs to get worked out.

Technorati Tags: application development, developers, manage programmers, PaaS

Michael Coté, one of the analysts at RedMonk talked with LongJump CEO Pankaj Malviya about platform-as-a-service on the cloud.

He writes:

Back in February, LongJump started providing their platform to ISVs packaged to be used as a private PaaS, where “private” means “run on your own,” just as “private cloud” does. That is, these ISVs would use the LongJump platform to develop and then sell SaaS applications… Since February 2009, they’ve had 5 ISVs sign up, each creating of delivering SaaSes with LongJump in very narrow industries like electronic equipment maintenance, HR, and drug trial management.

Michael and Pankaj also discussed the current trend for PaaS providers towards delivering what developers need vs. what the industry is providing.

One of the more interesting statements from Pankaj was that development shops were finding the lack of traditional (to use my modifier) ALM (application lifecycle management) in PaaS development annoying. Folks like Force.com – and the wider “cloud” world” – the conceit goes, don’t provide enough hooks to fit into the software development process that people are used to. The thinking is that there’s a cultural mis-mapping between how people want to develop software for the cloud and how the cloud wants (if only by omission of other options) people to develop software. Bringing up the specter of ALM-weakness is a good ploy and segmenter: if you know what ALM means, you probably like it, and if you don’t know what ALM means, you’re probably not worth selling to.

To read the complete article, click here.

Technorati Tags: alm, application lifecycle, cloud computing, developers, isv, PaaS, saas

LongJump will be a featured exhibitor at the Sun JavaOne conference this week at Moscone Center in San Francisco. We’re located in the Cloud Zone at Booth 511. Be sure to stop by and say “Hello,” if you’re going to be there. We’ll be demoing some new upcoming business and developer functionality that we think really changes the game when it comes to web-based application platforms.

The Pavilion hours are:

• Monday – 3PM to 7PM (with a Reception from 6 to 7PM)
• Tuesday – 11:30AM to 7:30PM (with a Reception from 6 to 7PM)
• Wednesday – 10AM to 4:30PM
• Thursday – 10AM to 2PM

We also have 2 free full conference passes (worth $2000 each) that we will give away to the first two people who sign up for a free trial account. Just go to our registration page and for “How did you hear about us” type in “JavaOne Blog Post.” Sorry! Only the first two responders can get the passes.

If you are late to the game, you can always sign up for the Pavilion Only pass at the JavaOne Registration page.

Technorati Tags: cloud computing, developers, java, javaone, sun

Yesterday featured a nice article from Chad Berndtson of Computer Reseller News on their ChannelWeb blog about LongJump’s BAP. Chad spoke with company Chairman Rick McEachern about the impedous for the platform and the growing need for software producers to want to privately build, brand, deliver and control SaaS applications.

“We thought midsize ISVs between $40 million and $200 million would be the sweet spot,” (McEachern) said. “But we find ISVs whose companies are well over $1 billion coming to us, too. It’s very interesting that it spans the very small to the very large. What they’re saying to us is: ‘Basically, what you’re telling me is you’ve got Salesforce in a box and we can private label it?’ Well, that’s not really our message, but essentially, yes, it’s that. It’s OK with us if you want to put it in those terms.”

The complete article is available on the ChannelWeb site.

Technorati Tags: application development, developers, isv, on-premise, saas, software-as-a-service

As many of you know, LongJump.com uses MySQL Enterprise Edition as our backend database. Like many, we chose it for its scalability, refined support and performance-for-value business case.

Sun Microsystem‘s MySQL has invited us to present a case study for rapidly building SaaS applications. Enterprises and ISVs acknowledge the trend toward SaaS and many are looking for cost effective ways to SaaS-enable their applications, their processes and their business models to enable greater efficiency and collaboration. However, the best path to developing SaaS applications still remains uncharted.

This webinar will feature Brian Gerhold, Director of Engineering at Simco Electronics and Pankaj Malviya, Founder/CEO of LongJump. In this presentation we’ll examine how Simco’s development team built a next-generation SaaS application which automated data collection, reporting and compliance leveraging MySQL and the LongJump development platform.

Brain will discuss how Simco approached common SaaS application development problems and the solutions that lead to their success.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can accelerate the development and deployment of MySQL-backed multi-tenant SaaS applications, in your data center, hosted environments or in the cloud, this webinar is for you.

• Thursday, June 11, 2009: 13:00 (1PM) Pacific time
• The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes long followed by Q&A

To take part in this webinar, sign up here.

Technorati Tags: developers, isv, mysql, saas, simco, sun microsystems

Additionally, we have added some important features for tracking information, improving administrative update performance, and application design as well as a new help system.

More Interface Changes

As part of the user interface update, users will be able to choose their own color schemes within Setup and companies will be able to load their logo for display on the left of the home page. Additional interface updates include:

• moving action buttons to the top of a view
• moving the record counter to within the view management icon
• introduction of widget-based web tabs for putting dashboards anywhere in an application, not just the Home tab
• introduction of database joined view web tabs for displaying views built by joining objects
• the ability to hide empty fields in a form layout within a section
• record owner information can be moved to the top of a record detail or to the bottom within a layout

Field History Logging

LongJump now makes it possible to keep a change log for specific fields in a record for change management, auditing and compliance purposes. By enabling  audit logging on a field, changes to that value will be time stamped including who made the change, the previous and new value.

Applying Formulas to Report Summaries

You can now create custom summary formulas to build additional analysis by taking a total summed value computed by the report and applying a more complex formula to it. For example, a summary of total goods sold can be shown with an additional calculation to determine sales compensation.

Wildcard Searching

Users can now use wildcards like * and ? to help with searching. LongJump’s search algorithm will look for patterns based on the wildcards.

Public and Private Tagging

Records can now have two levels of tagging: public and private. A private tag is one created and used only by the user. Public tags are shared across the organization.

Static Resources

Application developers will be able to load and store web resources such as CSS stylesheets, images, Javascript files, ZIP and TAR files to be served when called from custom pages, code, or other areas of the application.

Mass Data Operations

For any of the administrative data operations such as mass update, delete, ownership change and emptying the recycle bin, processing for more than 2,500 records will be conducted as a background process so users can continue to work freely and be alerted via email when the operation is complete.

Exporting Attachments

Users will be able to export any documents or attachments associated with a record during the export process. Files will be encoded as either ISO-8859-1,
UTF-8, or UTF-16 format during export.

Other Changes

• fields now support default values
• the Photos tab has been removed and has been consolidated with the Documents tab

Technorati Tags: application development, developers, enterprise applications, Longjump, Platform

Enter PaaS.

First, I’ll admit right now, I’m not a developer. I’ve written some applications before in a variety of languages including assembly, C++, Pascal, Java, and BASIC, but coding was not my calling. However… as a business user, there is some real advantage to the PaaS model, especially as it crashes into a sustained, cooperative relationship with agile developers.

Specifically two major points of the Agile Manifesto (“Customer Collaboration” and “Responding to Change”) are inherently easier in a PaaS environment. PaaS provides a significant amount of customization and configuration at the non-coding level, which can deepen a user’s commitment to the application.

For example, I can “self-service” myself to design some very sophisticated automated actions or generate elaborate reports, normally reserved for a DBA and programmer. Such as with LongJump’s data policies or workflow or validations, many automated processing functions are laid out in an easy-to-convey way. I just have to have an understanding of how to dissect the data.

And when I reach my limit of expertise on the design platform or when the platform’s native functionality reaches a wall, I can turn to my buddy, Joe the Agile Software Developer, and say, “Can you write me a connector to our backend such-and-such?” or “Do you have time to write me a simple cleansing algorithm to hunt down bad email addresses?”

The parameters are fairly well defined. The constructs of the platform are very clear. Best of all, changes can happen in near real-time. If Joe writes a Java function for one of our objects, it can go live immediately without having to reinstall a thing. Checked in code is usable the moment it leaves Eclipse. While web developers might say “so what” to that, for enterprise developers, it can be something prized.

And if Joe’s code is close enough to what I need for another object, and I can read enough of it to know where my differences are, I can copy and paste the code for use in another object. It becomes one less thing Joe needs to do for me (freeing him to play WoW or whatever it is programmers do with free time — probably read about coding).

The end result are applications that not only work the way the end user needs them to (point number 2 of the manifesto), they are essentially alive – adapting whenever I have a new business need. And the realization of those changes are not measured in weeks or months or even days – more like minutes.

As a business user, because I’m tailoring the app to my own needs, there’s also a real stickiness to it and more satisfaction as we grow old together. As I mature, as our processes mature, the app matures with me. It’s mine.

And isn’t that the point of agile development?

Technorati Tags: agile manifesto, agile software, application development, developers, programming

This is something we’re predicting will coalesce; right now it’s a bunch of individuals doing this on their own, but we expect lean software to catch on… Lean software could be the antidote to bloated vendors, products and applications and could be helpful in a down economy.

Rymer describes lean software as:

An approach to building, delivering and running software that values fit-to-purpose, simplicity and time to results above all. Lean approaches minimize complexity, startup time and resource usage, and [avoid] features and methods not essential to fulfilling the application’s business purposes. Developers can easily combine Lean software components with others when large systems require more features.

Rymer is spot on in discussing the need for programmers to build leaner, smaller applications. One thing the Web 2.0 push has taught us was to be more introspective when it comes to our application needs. Do we really need every application to be a monolithic exercise in features and functionality? Probably not. Lean software is also very much akin to situational applications.

At the same time, the platform those applications are built on are extremely important. The platform itself must be rich enough to support agile development models where apps can be deployed at will and common business infrastructure components don’t have to be built up from scratch. It is also important for the platform to allow situational and lean applications to connect to each other natively so you don’t end up creating another application silo.

Rymer also stated seven principles to follow for developing lean software:

1. Use fit-to-purpose tools and platforms
2. Employ a lean and agile development process
3. Follow standards that enable pluggable components for tools and applications
4. Hire skillful developers
5. Leverage open source
6. Optimize deployments
7. Rent or outsource context and own core applications

As Rymer mentions, there are some solutions already in the form of OSGi (Open Services Gateway Initiative), SaaS (software as a service) and PaaS (platform as a service), which provide modular and elastic alternatives to heavy solutions.

Technorati Tags: application development, custom applications, developers, enterprise applications, eweek, forrester, john rymer, lean software, PaaS, situational applications

Unfortunately, the article seems to miss the point. Platforms like LongJump, while are easy enough for savvy business users to create applications, also improve the position of coders. Why?

1. Developers are going to have to code a lot less and will not have to revisit applications they create as much because the majority of the object and process modeling needs in the application are already provided as part of the platform framework.
2. That means less boring coding like writing yet another rule engine or yet another SOAP connector for some small special project. Instead, the evolving challenges of development can be tackled instead of being quagmired in reinventing the wheel.
3. PaaS also reduces the cost of application development for highly specialized applications, allowing companies to do more with less resources while also optimizing internal processes and improving transparency of information.

Sophisticated applications, those with special needs or complex processes, will still require custom coding or customization of some kind that will require the discipline of a skilled developer who understands data, efficient processes, actions and design.

What PaaS does provide is an opening for a new kind of application development where business units, instead of running their operations on spreadsheets and emails, can quickly create collaborative applications, workflows, processes and reports for basic business tracking, management, and analysis.

One way to think about PaaS is that it is sort of like of Adobe Dreamweaver. The basic core function is to create a usable solution to a problem quickly and easily. If you need more sophistication, the coding engine is there for an HTML/Javascript expert, but in the meantime, a business user can go in, mock up what they need, make basic edits, or even have a serious contender solution and not have to code a single line. These would be applications that most companies would not have paid a developer for anyway.

So if you’re a coder, relax. We’re just getting rid of the junk work so you can spend your time on the cool stuff.

Technorati Tags: developers, infoworld, PaaS, Platform-as-a-Service

Sunnyvale, CA, Monday, September 22, 2008 – LongJump, a leading Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider, today unveiled its LongJump Development Suite for developers eager to exploit the business opportunities and advantages of Internet-based application development and delivery. LongJump’s developer suite reflects the growing interest in cloud computing, which Gartner named one of the top ten strategic technologies for 2008, noting that web platforms are emerging to provide service-based access to infrastructure services, information, applications, and business processes through cloud computing environments. Merrill Lynch predicts that within the next five years, the annual global market for cloud computing will swell to $95 billion.

While LongJump has already enabled businesses to harness a feature-rich platform to rapidly prototype and run multiple new applications without coding, this new offering provides advanced capabilities for developers with a Java-based set of tools to develop applications at the code level, allowing almost limitless enhancements and extensibility — all within a PaaS environment.

“Platform-as-a-Service is not only real; it is inevitable. For LongJump, capturing the hearts of developers and businesses alike means incorporating industry standard tools, building a full-featured enterprise-level platform, and reducing the time it takes to complete application projects,” stated Pankaj Malviya, LongJump’s founder and CEO. “LongJump’s PaaS offering brings a unique approach to eliminating the costs, complexity and repetition inherent in developing and deploying business applications.”

Platform-as-a-Service Emerging as Cost-Effective Cloud Computing

Traditionally, businesses that needed flexible applications would need to buy, build, and maintain a complex architecture of servers, databases, application frameworks and solution design. The PaaS model provides developers and enterprise IT teams with a more cost-effective way to extend or build custom applications. With LongJump, businesses can benefit from significant “time-to-value” and ongoing adaptability since they can bypass the need to recreate common business data models, processes and functions. That, coupled with an on-demand, web-based platform, makes PaaS the ideal platform for a range of business critical applications and situational applications that often exceed the budgets and commitment businesses can provide.

Standards-Based Approach Shortens Time to Market

Unlike most PaaS providers offering platforms that rely on proprietary code and languages to build hosted applications in the cloud, LongJump has opted for a standards-based approach by leveraging a Java-based development environment complete with a plug-in to the Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment), used by 69% of Java developers, according to BZ Research. 

“Many have tried to distill the definition of PaaS to its most essential elements, but nearly everyone emphasizes flexibility and customizability relative to SaaS and ease of deployment relative to custom-built software. End-users prize SaaS applications for their universal accessibility, high degree of reliability and convenient pricing. These applications, however, are still packaged functions at their core and cannot always be fully customized for an enterprise’s internal purposes. PaaS products attempt to win on customizability by providing users with a hosted palette of components that can be assembled as needed into business applications.” noted enterprise software analyst Vishwanath Venugopalan, of The 451 Group, a technology industry analyst firm, in a recent report. “Relative to custom software built and deployed in-house, PaaS offerings attract user interest for ease of deployment and reduced time to market.”

LongJump’s PaaS offering enables the use of customizable, reusable application “Building Blocks” including objects, scripts, component extensions, business logic, data policies, and workflows that greatly improve the speed of application development and sharing of data across applications. Once data models and processes are created by either clicking or coding, these building blocks can be reused across the platform to serve a variety of business needs. For example, a single contract object and its records can be created and reused by business teams such as sales, business development, compliance, legal, and finance by simply modifying data policies and workflows.

The new LongJump Development Suite includes a visual browser-based UI for data and process modeling as well as advanced coding and scripting features for developers who are familiar with Java, so they can enhance and extend applications or completely create new data models and processes from scratch. Additionally, LongJump provides a set of web service integration points using SOAP and RESTful APIs to seamlessly connect to external systems or platforms. When LongJump Objects are extended, those fields are immediately available for integration with SOAP and REST APIs, workflow processes, and the built-in report creation wizard. 

Key features in LongJump’s Development Suite include:

Industry Standard Tools and Plug-Ins

• All coding is done in Java, JSP and HTML-based code
• AJAX library and data model definitions and usage enable developers to reuse existing LongJump functions and UI
• Plug-in available for Eclipse IDE

Extensive Customization to Business Building Blocks

• Custom actionable data definitions provide the ability to manipulate data as needed or launch custom processes
• Custom component definitions provide the ability to define reusable components
• Custom Java class definitions enable defining and reusing classes across the platform
• Custom page definitions make completely unique UI experiences available to use within internal web tabs and via custom actions

Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and RESTful Web Services

• APIs support both SOAP message responses over HTTP/HTTPS and custom Java-bean scripting
• APIs can trigger workflow processes using SOAP and RESTful web services
• Inbound and outbound SOAP messaging support to connect to external systems
• Update of existing RESTful web services API for data integration with external systems

Free to Existing Customers / Free Trial Usage Available

The LongJump Development Suite is available immediately and is a free upgrade for existing users of the platform. LongJump is currently offering a free 30-day evaluation here: www.longjump.com/devsuite.

About LongJump

Based in Sunnyvale, California, LongJump is a service of Relationals Inc., a privately-held, proven provider of on-demand CRM and SFA business applications to more than 150 enterprise companies. LongJump’s Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and catalog of highly customizable, business applications help companies reduces the time and cost of developing and delivering data-driven applications. Its business building blocks let developers and corporate IT teams gain significant time-to-value, since they can bypass the need to repeatedly recreate common business processes and functions. LongJump is the first platform-as-a-service provider to bring robust customization, integration, and powerful functionality to businesses of all sizes, enabling them to quickly design, implement and do further customization in an easy, affordable way. For more information, visit www.longjump.com or call 800.886.9028.

Editor’s Note: The 451 Group’s report, “Built to order: what’s next for the platform-as-a-service market?” referenced above, is an independently-produced report that was neither sponsored by nor otherwise funded directly by LongJump. The report and its contents are the sole property of The 451 Group, copyright 2008, and are reproduced here by permission. The report is available at www.the451group.com.

Technorati Tags: cloud computing, developers, eclipse plug-in, java, PaaS, Platform-as-a-Service, rest, soap, the 451 group