Forrester Likes Central
"Forrester believes that [Macromedia] Central will have a major impact on three application environments:
- High-function consumer apps. With Central, developers can provide a consistent user experience that literally travels with the consumer. For example, a financial services firm can offer its most profitable customers a Central-enabled app that lets them configure trades offline pending market conditions. As soon as the user reconnects to the network, she can receive notifications when conditions match her preferences and execute the transaction.
- Portal initiatives. For employees and partners who need access to content, contacts, and messaging while disconnected from the network, today's browser-based portals literally don't deliver. Central puts the power back into end user's hands, letting sales and field reps subscribe only to relevant content and services, receive updated documents when logged onto the system, and manipulate data in real time when working offline.
- Business apps. Central gives companies a powerful alternative to the lobotomized, sluggish thin-client versions of enterprise applications. Using Central, firms can replace underperforming application UIs with a rich, Flash-based front end that supports traditional GUI functionality and the ease of deployment associated with the Web."
[Forrester Brief]