Rich Internet applications are applications which are launched from a browser like a Web site, but have the look and feel of desktop applications. They can be used independently of platforms and without installation, so they can be utilized in many different ways. They create a technological enabler for low-cost, individual business applications on an SaaS basis. In addition, they pave the way to innovative services for telcos and can make valuable contributions independently of business sectors during the marketing of products and services.

The Internet access of end devices with increasingly larger bandwidths is steadily rising. It has become completely normal for many people in industrialized countries to be online ­wherever they are – at home, at work, or while on the go. ­However, the Internet connection has been used primarily to be able to access data from anywhere. Applications, in contrast, have largely run locally on the end device being used.

Rich Internet applications (RIAs) open the door so that users can also obtain applications from the Internet. RIAs are Web-based applications which enable a new type of interactivity by expanding known Web technologies. While they are downloaded from the Internet like a Web site, they respond to entries fluidly and with elaborate graphic animations so that they can be used like a local desktop application.  

One very simple example is Google Maps. Users can take their mouse to simply grasp and move the maps shown on the site – parts which are first missing when the maps are moved appear automatically after a shorting loading time, while the users can go on working. In the meantime, there are applications from almost all software categories in addition to simple programs based on RIA such as e-mail clients or instant messengers, even such complex applications as office suites and picture editing programs. Although these RIAs do not have the full functionality of their desktop counterparts, they are generally completely adequate for the everyday requirements of most users. 

RIAs make it possible to use applications virtually anywhere  

Functional scope and usability of RIAs are steadily approaching the level of their desktop counterparts. Moreover, the users of RIAs enjoy a number of additional benefits. Whereas a desktop application is always permanently tied to an end device, an RIA can in principle be used at any PC with a browser and Internet access, just like a Web site. If, as is common in an RIA environment, the data are also stored at a central location, users can immediately become productive at any end device they choose, as long as it meets the technical requirements. This is important for users who regularly want to work on various end devices – at the desktop in the office and at the notebook when traveling, for example. What is more, RIAs enable spontaneous use of a colleague‘s PC or of a computer provided in a hotel or Internet café.   

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