Since the launch of Adobe AIR nearly a month ago, we’ve had a number of questions about how this new technology can be used for building stronger relationships with clients. In order to help organizations better understand Adobe AIR and how it can be used, we are offering a free webinar entitled, Understanding the Potential of Adobe Integrated Runtime (Adobe AIR). Join us on Wednesday, April 2nd or April 9th at 11:00 am Eastern for this online session.

This introductory session is unique, as it is not designed for programmers. Instead, it is geared to educate communications professionals on the impact that Adobe AIR can have on their customer relationships.

Session content includes:

• An introduction to rich Internet applications (RIAs) and the role of Adobe AIR
• The opportunities introduced with Adobe AIR
• Key benefits and examples
• Factors to consider
• Information on how to move forward with an Adobe AIR project

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.INM.com/webinars/.

Last week when I was watching a home renovation show, Holmes on Homes, I got to thinking. The host was walking through a seemingly sound, esthetically-pleasing, renovation that appeared to have one small flaw. As his crew started to peel back the layers of this renovation, it became apparent that deeper in the original construction there were several more flaws, some of them major. In the end, they needed to destroy 80-90% of what was completed to improve the 10-20% that was showing.

As I sat there watching this, it occurred to me that this analogy is often true with software development projects. Many are hard-coded and written in a haphazard way, creating a delicate structure with a pretty veneer. Everything looks great on the surface and works fine today, but when a little something needs to be added, you may be in for a big surprise.

When designing an application, it's important that the structure is sound enough to support today’s needs and is designed in a modular way so that it supports the new needs that may arise tomorrow. But how do you ensure this? First, it is important to work with right partner and the right technology. Look for a software partner that has a qualified team and previous examples of successful deployments. Then make sure your partner knows your business case, including your vision, key processes, key audiences and more. Working with your development partner, you can design a solution that leverages best-of-breed components that are loosely-coupled to work together. This approach allows you to easily add and remove components and to update technologies as newer ones evolve and become new industry standards.

Whether you are building software or homes, the principles are the same, start with a solid plan, use quality materials, choose skilled builders, and keep your plans open for future needs, you never know how things will change.

Last week, Apple unveiled its roadmap for the iPhone. The plans announced mainly fall into two categories, supporting iPhone in the enterprise, and opening up the iPhone’s software development kit (SDK) to third-party developers.

For enterprises, Apple is licensing the Microsoft ActiveSync technology to add support for Microsoft Exchange within its current iPhone applications. At the same time, they have also announced that they are allowing third-party developers to license their native SDK for the creation of iPhone applications.

There are already 1,000 web applications available today for the iPhone, and 71% of mobile browser traffic in the US is coming from iPhone users. Now the only thing missing from the equation is support for rich Internet applications (RIAs). Rumours of Flash support have been swirling around since the official announcement of the device, but Apple hasn’t confirmed anything.

Now with the advancements made by Microsoft with its upcoming version of Silverlight 2.0, Apple has a choice of paths. They can either opt to support RIAs though Adobe Flash Player or through Microsoft Silverlight. Or maybe they will opt to support both. We eagerly await Apple’s next move.