You may have come across the term web applications before today, but are you aware of the many different types of web applications available and how they can benefit your business? In this blog post, we’ll cover all of the basics of what a web application actually is as well as the pros and cons that come with them.
Types of Web Applications
To put it simply, a web application is a computer program that runs over the internet and can come in a number of different forms. It can be anything, here are just a few examples of web applications:
- online form
- content management system
- online shopping cart
- video
- email programme
They can be used to simplify tasks, expand your business or even improve organisation within your company and can be for employee use only or customer facing. Whether you want to sell products via your new website or you simply want to capture customer data with ease, you can use web applications to improve your business.
Web Applications VS Desktop Applications
So what’s the difference between a web application and a desktop application? While a web application is accessed via a web browser, a desktop application doesn’t require access to the internet.
The installation process is more complex and time consuming with a desktop application as it has to be installed separately onto every computer whereas a web application only has to be installed once to be accessed by everyone in the company.
Access is rather more limited with desktop applications unlike web applications that can accessed from any location via the internet, but associated costs tend to be higher with web applications due to increased bandwidth usage.
Advantages and Disadvantages of web applications
Web applications come with a whole host of advantages and one of the main benefits is they are user friendly. Anyone can utilise a web application provided they have an active internet connection regardless of whether they are using a PC, a Mac or any type of software. Applications of this kind are also easy to customise making it a flexible option for businesses that wish to update it over time to complement their ever changing needs. Web applications are also incredibly low maintenance. One download is all it takes for everyone in the company to access it instantly regardless of where they are in the world.
However, that being said, there are a few downsides to web applications. The speed and performance of the application rely on an internet connection and a poor connection can cause problems to arise. If your internet connection goes down, productivity levels will drop as a result. Another potential downside is that web applications can be time consuming to create due to the customisable nature of them.
So, there you have it, everything you ever needed to know about web applications. Whether you want to deliver news, create questionnaires, allow your customers to place online orders or simply capture data, you can easily weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of using web application.
Want to know more? Need IT Support?
Contact the IT experts at ESP Projects to discuss your business needs and we will suggest a whole host of web applications that you and your company can benefit from. Alternatively, get in touch with us today, our friendly, helpful team are on-hand to solve your IT problems.
