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I\u2019ve noticed a disturbing trend in the world of business web applications. It seems that emphasis is shifting away from application architecture and shifting towards application design. These days, flashy interfaces beat out well-built web applications.<\/p>\n
Why is this happening? I recently read an article<\/span><\/a> over on techrepublic.com that highlights a major factor driving this trend: End user\u2019s expectations are rising. They expect enterprise applications to be as well-designed and easy to use as the apps and tools they use every day. After all, if their enterprise applications don\u2019t meet their expectations, there are plenty of other web services they can use.<\/p>\n Now, I get it. I understand the problems this creates for businesses. But, in the rush to please the end users with well-designed interfaces, let\u2019s not forget about the most important aspect of business applications: Architecture.<\/p>\n For business web applications, architecture is infinitely more important than design.<\/strong> While application architecture might be invisible to the business users, the effects of application architecture are clear as day.<\/p>\n Let me try to highlight a few tangible benefits of good architecture, and help you understand why ignoring it might be the worst mistake your business can make. To help drive this home, I solicited feedback from a few experts in the field of application architecture. You can find their responses below, along with 5 big reasons why application architecture is so important.<\/a><\/p>\n Have you noticed an uptick in security breaches in the last year? While some are caused by human error or weak passwords, many are caused by architectural vulnerabilities. That\u2019s right, weak security is one of the biggest problems of bad application architecture.<\/p>\n \u201cApplication architects probably have more impact on an application\u2019s security than anyone else,\u201d says Rohit Sethi, VP of SD Elements<\/span><\/a>. \u201cA single architectural decision can have major ramifications on how secure an application is inherently, and perhaps more importantly how expensive it is to fix a vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n Sethi goes on to share a cautionary story on the value of good architecture: \u201cI once reviewed a web-based accounting application where the developers decided to implement their own JavaScript presentation framework with a service-based backend. In order to speed up performance, the JavaScript framework was responsible for making all authorization decisions. The development team was horrified to find out that it was trivial for attackers to bypass JavaScript security controls and access the backend services directly. This effectively meant anyone who could reach their web server could perform any accounting activity \u2013 even without credentials. Their architecture made it very difficult to fix because it effectively meant changing the way every transaction occurred and sacrificing at least some of the JavaScript performance benefits on which they marketed their software. The fix was a very expensive, multi-year effort.\u201d<\/p>\n When building or buying new business applications, look at long-term value over short-term cost\/effort. Sure, purchasing a well-architected system may cost more initially, or building a web application right the first time may take a bit longer up front. But, it saves time in the long run. Maintaining a well-architected application is far simpler, and requires much less time than a poorly-built application.<\/p>\n \u201cMaintaining a badly designed system is very man-power intensive and problematic,\u201d says Andreas Huttenrauch, Managing Director of Globi Web Solutions<\/span><\/a>. \u201cThe total-cost-of-ownership (TCO) can mushroom out of control very quickly, and is often a side-effect of initial savings in development.\u201d<\/p>\n While everyone enjoys making predictions, does anyone really know what the tech landscape will look like in 5 years? No…which is yet another reason why architecture is so important. A well-architected application adapts to changing technology trends far easier than its poorly-architected counterpart.<\/p>\n “A web application designed today needs to to be built for the needs of tomorrow,\u201d explains Tyler Wassell, Software Development Manager here at mrc<\/span><\/a>. \u201cApplications must not only meet immediate business requirements but also be ready to scale, deploy to cloud environments, and be accessed from any location or device. As business needs evolve, web applications must quickly adapt without wasting the time and money associated with new software upgrades and replacement.”<\/p>\n Well architected applications grow with your business. Oftentimes, businesses make the mistake of building applications to fit their current business size, while ignoring scalability. When their businesses grow, their applications cannot grow with them. As you might imagine, they\u2019re forced to create new applications.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a system is not designed to scale, it pretty much has to be re-written from scratch to work in a multi-server environment,\u201d explains Huttenrauch. \u201cUsually scalability is an urgent requirement, so the time to re-write can have massive negative impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n When you boil everything down, good application architecture saves money, and lots of it. Poorly-built applications are money pits, requiring more maintenance and enhancements. On the other hand, applications built on good architecture are far cheaper to maintain and enhance.<\/p>\nGood architecture is more secure<\/h3>\n
Good architecture is easier to maintain<\/h3>\n
Good architecture adapts to changes<\/h3>\n
Good architecture scales with your business<\/h3>\n
Good architecture saves money<\/h3>\n