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Understanding the Power of the Internet: Web Enabled versus Web-based Fleet Management Software

Understanding the differences between web-based and web-enabled software systems is difficult at the best of times. Resonance have discovered that this information is simply non-existent or misleading which can make it very hard for customers to make a well informed decision when it comes to choosing the right fleet management system for their company. The internet offers tremendous advantages, like cross-platform capability and access for remote teams, accordingly, many software companies have tried to harness it's power by making the most of it's capabilities and use it in their own software packages.

Resonance and its partner Chevin Fleet Solutions are leading developers of fleet management software with many years experience in this field. They decided to make the most of what the internet had to offer but did not want to compromise by using a web-enabled system, so opted for a web-based version. FleetWave was launched in 2001 and was the first commercially available web-based fleet management software system. Since then many companies like Cadbury Schweppes, Jaguar Land Rover UK, Coca Cola Korea Bottling Company and West Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust have discovered the massive benefits that FleetWave has to offer.

However, many other products on the market have ended up being web-enabled. They try hard to imitate client-server functionality via tacked-on "web" components such as ActiveX and Java, or cross-platform environments such as Cytrix. But at the end of the day, these web-enabled products are simply not making the full use of internet capabilities.

Resonance have hence found that many potential customers are either mislead or simply do not realise that there are two different systems that make use of the internet. Therefore they are not making well-informed choices when deciding what fleet management software to use. It can also prove very costly when companies find out that their new software does not do what expected, even though they may have spent a considerable budget on it. Therefore, to help inform those who are in the market for fleet management software, the advantages and features of both web-enabled and web-based are outlined below.

Web-based literally means that the application was written specifically to run on the web. An application that is web-based offers end users full application functionality from a browser without the need for client software. When software is written specifically to run from the web, it means that configuration or customisations made on the server to the software are immediately universally and available to all the end users. This happens because the software resides on a web server and each time a user accesses the software, they are accessing the live, current version from the web. Additionally, each user is accessing the same data-centre no matter where they are geographically located.

Web-enabled is a term typically used to describe the add-on web-browser component of an application designed to run in a client-server environment. Web-enabled applications are still client-server based, meaning that a portion of the software resides on the server and the other portion resides on the user's desktop machine. Each time the system administrator changes configuration or customises the application, those changes must take place at the server level and modifications must also be propagated at each individual workstation. The web-enabled portion of the application may allow access to data from a web browser, but the user is limited to the product functionality that is available on the web portion of the system. To access and utilise the full functionality of the application, the user must access the client-server application. Additionally, as there are client-side requirements, the end-user platform must also be taken into consideration.

"When we launched FleetWave it was like a breath of fresh air and was a revolutionary system that made use of the latest technology available, including the internet," said Scott Jenkins, National Sales Manager at Chevin Fleet Solutions, our technology partner from the United Kingdom. "However, meeting potential customers that are in the market for fleet management software, I find that I end up explaining - or correcting, what they have been told about web-based software. Once they are in receipt of the full facts, the advantages that web-based software has to offer them is apparent and so the decision to go with it is immediate."