CTO Blog

The technology itself is not complex, the value, or expertise, lies in understanding how to use Widgets successfully for business purposes. In addition, and particularly with Smart Phones, a working knowledge of how to find, choose, and download widgets will enable a user to add a great deal of extra value to the services that they can use. Try this as a downloadable widget to allow a smart phone user with internet access to make it easier to find and read the Capgemini CTO Blog as an example

It’s this crossover capability that I find interesting, being able to take content from the (PC) web and inserting it into a format that is suitable for a Mobile Phone, that’s a real bonus, and a point not lost on Nokia who support the Widsets site. However the real beauty to me of Widgets is the ability for a business to create a widget that can deliver their services in a defined manner that they can control, but the format allows the user to decide how and where they can embed the Widget in their own solution. This is a really powerful example of the O’Reilly Web 2.0 principle of ‘services above the level of a single device, better thought of as meaning the recreation of ‘business services’ in forms to be delivered through Web 2.0 based ‘technology services’. Something at Capgemini we refer to as redefining business sector offerings into the ‘Sector as a Service’.

A good commercial example of this is from UPS, the parcel carrier, in an industry segment that has been revolutionised by online services, from MashUps over Google Maps, to booking collection with self printed labels. In this case the Widget will allow you to track up to 5 packages for which you have the tracking numbers for, and will display the status as one of the following: Pickup, In Transit, Delivered, or Not Available. It can be set to automatically recheck for updates every X number of hours, and provides a link to the UPS web page where you can get more detailed information about your shipments.

Given the focus the MashUp has had, and quite frankly its growing acceptance as a normal element in the range IT capabilities in use, together with main stream technology vendors like IBM add their product offerings to the first wave of specialist vendors it seemed that I really had to put the record straight and remind us all of the value that the simple Widget can bring. Oh btw the rest of the MashUp Corporation book still works just fine!