ClearNova Breaks Out AJAX ToolsetClearNova Breaks Out AJAX Toolset

Companies big and small are trying to capitalize on the AJAX boom.

ClearNova says its new ThinkCAP JX combines easy graphical programming with the latest in AJAX support. The product is being positioned as the ideal way to truly Web-enable legacy applications.

AJAX, or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a programming method that aims to bring the responsiveness and usability associated with rich client-server applications to the Web world.

Last week at its Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft talked up Atlas, an AJAX-style tool to help ASP.Net developers build rich client technology on the .Net Framework. It supports JavaScript.

ClearNova's ThinkCAP JX rapid-application development tool for AJAX environments incorporates a raft of popular open source frameworks and engines including Struts and Hibernate, as well as "a full-blown business charting engine" in a framework, said Steve Benfield, vice president of strategy at the Alpharetta, Ga.-based company. Benfield is a veteran of SilverStream and Sybase's PowerBuilder franchise.

Tibco and other companies have announced support for AJAX in their products, but "most focus on the browser side so you need to know JavaScript, which is complex,” Benfield said. “We're saying use the server and the client, put some logic on the server and write Java to control things on the client. It makes it really easy to do interactive stuff."

Some VARs have so far been impressed.

"The overwhelming business reason to use ThinkCAP is first it lets you extend legacy applications to the Web ten times faster than anything else," said Tony Merendello, president of ServIT, an Atlanta-based solution provider. "It's bulletproof. Java runs on any hardware and gets your information to the Web in a non-band-aid manner. In the dot-com boom, scalability was an issue, so people slapped a lot of band-aids on. Now they're removing their band-aids and doing real fixes."

The company is also trying to be partner-savvy in its rollout, formalizing a partner program for its AJAX and Java tools.

Consulting level partners, paying $5,000 a year, receive training for two employees and get access to a partner support hotline as well as finder's fees. Resellers who meet the Gold level criteria get up to a 30 percent discount on the software and training for five people for their $10,000 fee.

"Ajax is the new belle of the ball for building a rich and fast UI. But the tools to date have been lackluster and complex. There is fertile ground for building the tools gap when it comes to AJAX," said Dana Gardner principal analyst at InterArbor Solutions, Gilford, N.H.