Certification - June 2008 - (Page 28)

environment ripe with opportunity and demand for a new breed of application developers. Those developers who are skilled in Web applications and understand the business criticality of real-time communications such as dial tone will be equipped with the skill sets needed to be successful in the new world of unified communications applications. CertScope links to 227 CertMag articles and 255 Web sites touching on “application development.” New Tools for New Uniﬁed Communications Developers One option for developers to build feature-rich applications for their UC solutions is the Cisco Unified Application Environment. This tool allows developers to spend more time focusing on high-value intellectual property. It also allows customers to bring new applications to market faster, and it standardizes the deployment and management of applications to reduce total cost of ownership The Cisco Unified Application Environment delivers the following features to develop, deploy and manage unified communications applications: • A telephony protocol extraction framework and visual development environment that enables Web and enterprise developers, who lack telephony skills, to easily and rapidly develop feature-rich applications. • The ability to access the full features of UC implementations from a visual high level using tools such as Viseo, along with the ability to manipulate C+ code. • Future support for scripting languages such as Python and Ruby. Case in Point One example of a company realizing the business benefits of developing and deploying applications using Cisco Unified Application Environment can been seen at a management and technology consulting company that was using a Web-based application to reserve temporary office space for consultants as they travel between various offices and customer locations. • Automated test tools that perform functional, load, system and regression tests to reduce test cycles and increase the success rate of project completion. Application developers must take advantage of tools that reduce development timeframes, employ an applications life-cycle management strategy and ultimately deliver a supreme user experience. The application was successful in reserving office space, but did not have a feedback mechanism to determine if the space was in fact being used. To effectively measure the utilization rate, the company used Cisco Unified Application Environment to enhance the existing application. Now, when consultants arrive at their reserved space, they are required to log in to the Cisco Unified IP Phone. This information is captured and used to determine actual office-space utilization. The company now leases spaces on actual-use data rather than inflated estimates, saving the company in excess of $1.5 million per year. As an added benefit, consultants also are more readily accessible to customers. • A set of application life-cycle management tools that standardizes, centralizes and automates management of all unified communications applications. • A standard applications container enabling development, quality assurance and operations to collaboratively manage scalability, performance and reliability of all unified communications applications. • Abstract implementation differences across products and versions to minimize interoperability challenges, so customers can upgrade their UC infrastructure without breaking their applications. 28 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE June 2008 http://www.CertMag.com

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Certification - June 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Online Degrees: Are They Right for You? Inside Certification New Opportunities and Challenges: Are Application Developers Ready? Interface Where Have All the Help Desks Gone? Ad Index Endtag

Certification - June 2008

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