Milestone 1

1. What is the scope of the application? What users and/or organizations will be served, and what will they be able to accomplish?
2. What general application capabilities discussed in class ought to be applicable to this application (social, information management, business, etc.)?
3. In general why do you think that this application can receive major benefits from networked computing?

What is the scope of the application? What users and/or organizations will be served, and what will they be able to accomplish?

What general application capabilities discussed in class ought to be applicable to this application (social information management, business, etc. -- be specific)?

• Access Control / Locking (permission): When many people are working on a particular website/document, it is important to know who is working on a site as well as who should not have access to the given site when it is in a private workspace. "Access control" is the method, which identifies group members with the right to access and perform changes, as well as those with limited permission, where they have the right to access but can only leave comments (annotation) on a particular web document. "Access control" will prevent those outside of the permissions to have access to the given sites.

  "Locking" a document refers to a "checkin/checkout" system for editing a given document. A document is considered "locked" when it is "checked out." A document must be "checked out" in order for it to be edited, and the person checking out the item will be the only person with the ability to make changes to that particular document. Once the editing is complete, the document must be checked back in before others can check it out for editing. This system will prevent two or more users from simultaneously editing the same document and overwriting one another's work.

  For the "access control" on a document to be lifted, in other words, to make a website "public," the document should be copied from the workspace to the "public" domain. Usually, it is preferable for working documents to be closed to the public until is ready for publicizing.

• Version control: The application maintains copies from each stage of development for every document. This means that a distinct copy of each version of a given document is saved. The application keeps track of who creates new versions and of what changes are made to the document. This guards against accidentally overwriting a valuable earlier version of a document with a new version differing substantially enough from the previous version as to destroy important elements. With this robust version control, rolling back to a previous version of a webpage or even of an entire website is quick and will always be possible.
• Replication/Reconciliation: The application supports multiple, distributed development by permitting more than one developer at a time to work on a specific document. Distinct, mutually-exclusive changes are combined into a single, complete version of that document. Whenever overlapping, conflicting changes are made, the application flags these contentious sections for review and reconciliation into a coherent single version.
• Backup: In addition to the version control mentioned previously, the application manages regular backups of all stored documents to a remote location to provide further protection from accidental data loss.
• Labor Tracking The purpose for "labor tracking" is to keep a log of who is "checking out" particular documents and for how long. This log will allow work group members to see who is editing a particular site and who are responsible for the latest revisions.

  The "time tracking" portion of "labor tracking" can be used as a gauge for administration. This tally on the amount of time and labor a document is using can be used as a guide to optimize the distribution of labor. For example, if a particular site is being constantly checked out for editing, the work group in charge of this area may be one requiring strong labor force. On the contrary, a site with a very low permission-locking log, even though the site maintains volatile information, may also signify that a stronger labor force is needed in this area.

• Annotation: For collaborated authoring of websites, there may be need for work group members to leave notes for other members regarding particular points on a given page. "Annotation" is the most effective way to leave notes on the document without affecting the content of the page. These notes can be used for the purpose of reminders to constructive criticism. Comparable to physical "post-it" notes, these notes will only visible on the documents in the "private" workspace. Therefore, when the document is published in the public domain, these notes will not be seen by the public.

• Style guide/template management: The application supports development and management of global style guides and templates. This capability is valuable for helping developers adhere to the style conventions and layout desired by the organization as a whole. This feature enables developers to easily establish a consistent look and feel across the entire web site
• Platform independent client: Taking advantage of its networked nature, the application is platform independent at the client level. Developers can use the application regardless of which local computing environment they prefer.
• Roaming: Whether global or not, "roaming" capability is a must for collaborative networks. "Roaming" will allow anyone with the proper permissions, to have access to a particular website from the desktop computer in their office, from a laptop on a plane, or even from an overhead computer at a conference. This benefit is largely due to the platform independent nature of this application.

In general why do you think that this application can receive major benefits from networked computing?

Another major advantage of network computing is collaboration between people that are not physically located in the same office. Network computing facilitates sharing of expertise and knowledge over geographically distributed locations. It helps eliminate duplication of work thus making a system more time efficient and enables communication in a very effective manner.

Network computing enable localization of development. What this means is that information specific to a particular location of a global firm can be effectively communicated to other locations through this application. The advantage is faster access to more accurate and most current status update.

With the help of network computing, employees can stay connected i.e. communicate, collaborate, develop and update even when on travel. Network computing eliminates the barrier and limitations of having to be physically located in the same place in order to perform various business functionalities effectively.

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