Simplifying App Development
Adobe Systems has debuted Enterprise Suite 2 (ES2), which the company describes as a major software release enabling businesses and governments to build applications that interact with customers and constituents across devices and channels.
ES2 provides a rich Internet application (RIA) framework for building customizable RIA workspaces, mobile and desktop access to critical applications and deployment in the cloud. Enterprises can now deliver personalized experiences that connect to automated processes and embed real-time collaboration in the applications to improve customer experience and boost employee productivity.
LiveCycle ES2 now integrates more tightly with the Flash Platform and PDF technologies. This enables enterprise developers to create user-centric applications that contrast with the more traditional, unwieldy system-centric applications. New Adobe application modeling technology brings higher productivity to Adobe Flex and LiveCycle developers and allows them to more efficiently write applications by reducing the amount of code and simplifying data and service integration. Also, a new LiveCycle ES2 plug-in for Flash Builder 4 beta lets developers more seamlessly embed LiveCycle ES2 technologies into any Flex-based application. Furthermore, the new Adobe LiveCycle Collaboration Service (formerly Adobe Flash Collaboration Service), a hosted service, provides developers and enterprises with a scalable solution to easily build real-time, multi-user collaboration into existing or new RIAs. The powerful and flexible framework accelerates the development and deployment of user-centric applications by enterprise developers.
The new LiveCycle Mosaic ES2 is a composite RIA framework for rapidly assembling intuitive, personalized and activity-centric RIA applications. Developers can extend existing enterprise applications by exposing their business logic and user interfaces into application "tiles." Tiles are context-aware, user interface application components that can be assembled to create unified views that best suit the user's work habits and specific needs. Users can switch between multiple tasks without losing work in progress, and can save workspaces to return to later, preserving data context on the server via an Adobe AIR desktop application.
LiveCycle ES2 features expanded options for participating in critical business processes. Adobe LiveCycle Workspace ES2 Mobile offers access to LiveCycle ES2 from iPhone, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile devices, allowing users to interact with tasks on the go. Adobe LiveCycle Launchpad ES2 provides easy desktop access to LiveCycle ES services. Users can use a simple drag- and drop- interface to create a PDF or add policies for secure document processes.
Adobe is also announcing the ability for enterprise customers to deploy LiveCycle ES2 as fully managed production instances in the cloud, with 24x7 monitoring and support from Adobe, including product upgrades. LiveCycle ES2 preconfigured instances will be hosted in the Amazon Web Services cloud computing environment, providing organizations a faster deployment path and lower total cost of ownership.
To further ease deployment and expedite time to value, Adobe is expanding its set of Adobe Solution Accelerators. Built on LiveCycle ES2, Adobe Solution Accelerators help organizations kick-start project planning and prototyping, and decrease development time. In addition to the Account Enrollment Solution Accelerator and Correspondence Management Solution Accelerator for financial services institutions, Adobe now adds Benefits and Services Delivery Solution Accelerator for government entities; Electronic Submissions Solution Accelerator for life sciences organizations; and Human Capital Applications Solution Accelerator for businesses and government entities. Adobe Solution Accelerators provide best practice methodologies, UI and process templates, and code building blocks to extend LiveCycle ES2.