Alpha Software is now offering software to help business create online AJAX databases without coding requirements. I recently spoke with Richard Rabins, their CEO. Alpha was first started in the 1980s and had a database product, Alpha Four that competed with Dbase based on ease of use and speed. Richard said they sold the company. However, in 2000, they bought back the key assets as they saw the emergence of the Web as a great platform for applications.

Richard said that first generation online applications were slow when compared to desktop apps and this hampered adoption. Then AJAX appeared to bring speed to Web apps. They developed Alpha Five to allow business users to develop complex online AJAX based databases without coding requirements. It works with any SQL backend and any Web browser.

We looked at the development tool. You can assemble the components of a database with point and click and drag and drop in the absence of coding. It seemed easy enough for me, a good sign

Richard offered some use cases to demonstrate the complexity of AJAX databases that can be created without coding. In the first case, a national retailer recently developed a comprehensive database for 5 million users. They had 5,000 photo centers and wanted to generate more foot traffic. The retailer looked at the church market as many churches have photo-based member directories. Maintaining these directories is a real challenge for both the administrators and the church members so it was a business opportunity for the retailer.

To streamline the photo directory process the retailer wanted to provide an easy to use database where church members could upload their photos and much of the directory creation process was automated. This required a complex database backend with comprehensive reporting capabilities, the speed of AJAX, and good security. Here is sample screen showing a church staff member.

It also needed flexibility. For example, if a church was in Canada, the drop down listing of US states needed to switch to Canadian provinces. Using Alpha Five they able to quickly create this database. Here is video demonstrating how the system works and its comprehensive components. Below is a search results showing images.

In another case, an insurance company wanted to provide 24×7 customer service and promote more customer self-service through the Web. For example, accidents could be self-reported online without and status of claims checked at any time. I know from recent experience this would be a big help.

In a third case, New York City wanted to put fire fighters, police, and ambulance on the same radio frequency. This was quite a complex process and Alpha Five was used to create the database to manage and track the process.

To offer companies more flexibility, Alpha has decoupled development from deployment for SaaS applications. You can also automatically reconfigure interfaces for fit different devices. Richard showed me how an interface scales down to fit a mobile device. The application modifies itself rather than requiring two different interfaces.

Richard shared an interesting fact. In 1915 95% of electricity for companies was generate don-premise. By 1930, 95% of electricity came the grid. He sees a similar change occurring with IT resources and it makes sense. At the same time, the fastest growing computer device is the smart phone. These two things will certainly change with way we work with data.

Alpha initially planned to just offer tools but now provide development services with their tools as many companies requested this. Richard said their current users are about 40% third party developers and 60% power business users within a company. Here is their Alpha blog for more details.