Having kicked off a pretty good discussion about improving user interaction models in enterprise applications yesterday, I wanted to follow up with a pointer.
I was pretty sure I had written up WebSphere Communications Enabled Applications (CEA) after Impact 2009, but apparently not. But its worth pointing to, because it allows for very simple programming of new customer interaction models. The guy behind the project is friend-of-RedMonk Savio Rodrigues. So what is CEA for?
The basic idea behind CEA, otherwise known as WAS V7 Feature Pack for CEA Beta. You know those new-fangled portals for customer service, with full screen-sharing? Turns out you can build these apps with a few Javascript tags. Yeah- I was surprised, too.
Potential applications include more effective data entry, say, where the customer can correct the call center agent in real time. What about switch networking and VOIP? Well-CEA is designed to allow click to call, again with just a simple tag in the portal, to Cisco and Nortel gear, and supports SIP.
My key point is that with a minimum of fuss, and perhaps not enough fanfare, IBM is making it easier for its customers to collaborate with their customers, while taking advantage of all the “systemsness” of the platform, SSO and so on. New user interaction models in a WebSphere feature pack. That’s useful. Now David Boloker needs to finish off Blue Spruce (IBM video codec project) and IBM will be in good shape…
IBM is a client. Savio is a friend.
monkchips says:
September 8, 2009 at 6:13 pm
some stuff about WebSphere and comms, or somethin’ @saviorodrigues http://bit.ly/mZrsG
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Savio Rodrigues says:
September 8, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Glad to read that you remembered CEA! 😉 And yes, we did win the title of longest product name….a coveted title at IBM.
We’ve gone GA now and added Avaya support also: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/featurepacks/cea/index.html
We’re seeing a lot of attention in the contact center space….partnering with Avaya & Cisco help quite a bit on that front.
LOB users love the ‘secure & painless cobrowse’ feature when they see it in action. Helps LOB dream up user interactions that their apps don’t currently support…but soon will 😉
theRab says:
September 25, 2009 at 2:29 pm
neat bits about improving customer interactions when developing CRM/CSR type apps from @monkchips http://bit.ly/FNooN
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Pace Layering in Software: WebSphere Feature Packs vs Major Releases says:
November 23, 2010 at 4:09 am
[…] Pack for Communications-Enabled Applications (CEA) – I have written before about CEA before – cool functionality – SIP calls in portals through Javascript, two users […]