IBM plays AJAX wiki business

17.11.2005
Terms like AJAX and wiki may be associated with cutting-edge Web development, but IBM is using both technologies to develop next-generation business applications.

Short for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, AJAX is used to describe interactive Web applications which retrieve data from the server more transparently, while wiki is a term given to collaborative Web portals which can be edited by many users.

IBM Fellow and vice president of the emerging Internet technology group, Rod Smith believes while AJAX is not a "silver bullet", enterprises will begin to offer it "incrementally to what their Web sites are today".

Smith said that since browsers became pervasive people want a better experience, but don't want to sacrifice the browser's reach. "AJAX has been around for a while and Google has pushed its limits," he said, adding IBM uses it for its portal software.

Smith's team focuses on the areas of rich Internet applications (RIA), DIY content, and scripting languages, with PHP of particular interest. He describes these as all significant industry trends which need to be looked at for IBM's future products.

"PHP has a great community and people can find good community support," he said. Smith said wikis are used in open source projects as collaboration tools and companies have expanded this to make it an application platform.