IBM and Google are teaming up to bring “gadgets“, mini applications that run on a browser, from the consumer Web to corporate networks, reports ZDNet.
The partnership will allow business users to access Google gadgets from IBM’s WebSphere Portal software. WebSphere Portal 6 and Portal Express customers can get Google Gadget Portlet for free starting in April.
It will allow users to search on an Internet directory of Google gadgets and configure them to run on IBM’s software. A salesperson, for example, could use a gadget to plot customer information from a sales application on Google’s Web-based mapping service.
By having the gadgets run within a browser controlled by IBM’s portal software, customers can take advantage of IBM’s network access security as well other features important to corporations such as backed-up data, said Larry Bowden, IBM’s vice president or portals and Web interaction services. In addition, employees can store information, such as names and addresses, on the company’s network while using Google gadgets, he added.
IBM hasn’t integrated gadgets from other providers yet, but Bowden expects the company will in the future.
Wikipedia explains a key technology behind gadgets — AJAX.
Ajax, shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is meant to increase the web page’s interactivity, speed, and usability.
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