Web Applications that Streamline Operations
I started designing and building systems in 1983. In 2001 — seven years after I started developing Web sites — I added customized, database-driven Web applications to my offerings.
Web Application Defined
A Web application is simply a computer program — or, most often, a suite of computer programs — whose guts (the programming code and logic) reside on a Web server and whose functionality is accessed through a Web browser.
You know what Web applications are. You use them all the time. Online banking. Amazon. Facebook. Twitter. And so on.
What Web Applications Do
[Jump to examples]
In many cases, the custom Web applications I build allow people to perform specialized back-office operations — those tasks that keep a company running and for which canned solutions are either non-existent or cost-prohibitive — via password-protected Web pages. Such Web applications are typically referred to as Intranets and Extranets.
Other Web applications I build consist of public-facing functionality — advanced Web-site features accessible by visitors to the sites.
Some of these Web applications are seamlessly integrated into WordPress Web sites. And in every case (for those who care about such things), I build these applications in PHP and MySQL.
Examples of Web Applications
Here is a sampling of Web applications I have built over the years, from small to rather huge. For more about Web applications, including specific mini-case studies, see this blog post.
- My own CRM (Customer Relationship Management System)
- Sales Follow-up Systems
- Customized Membership Sites
- Customized Order Forms
- Product Showcases
- Business Contract Generators
- Customized Application Forms
Are You in the Market for a Web Application?
In the older days, back-office computer programs resided on and were accessed from individuals’ computers or from a company’s local area network. Many still do. In some cases, these back-office operations are handled by a single individual using office productivity software like Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access.
Does that ring a bell?
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