Data Services provide the important and critical link that connects Flex, AIR and AS3 based Flash platform interfaces to leverage robust server side environments. This serves two important functions, namely:

> Existing server centric applications that connect to disparate systems and own the core business and transactional logic can continue to exist. Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) can smoothly plumb on to such applications.

> RIAs can work within a service oriented architectural structure, where interactive and rich interfaces can consume business functions or services using data services as the bridge.

 In general data services support two main features: Remoting -- making remote procedure calls from RIAs to server side methods and procedures, including web service endpoints, and  Messaging -- sending an receiving messages between two RIA instances or a RIA and a server based application component. This feature makes data push possible.

In addition, data services provide hooks for persistence management, distributed transactional support, real-time high throughput streaming and integration with enterprise resources like Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), workflow engines and Business Process Management (BPM) tools. Extensions and libraries also bring PDF generation and manipulation within the data services fold.  

A number of commercial and open source data services products and libraries are available for a host of programming languages and environments. At Saven, some of the prominent data services products and libraries that we have expertise in, support and like to help our clients take advantage of are as follows:

LifeCycle Data Services (LCDS) -- Part of the commercial robust life cycle product suite from Adobe. Works with Java server environments. (LCDS: http://www.adobe.com/products/livecycle/dataservices/)

BlazeDS -- Open source alternative to LCDS. Shares much of LCDS code base. Does not support real-time streaming via RTMP, as LCDS does. Also, does not offer Java NIO channels that are available with LCDS. (BlazeDS:http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/blazeds/BlazeDS/)

GraniteDS -- An open source alternative to LCDS. Integrates with Spring, JPA, Hibernate, EJB3, Seam, Google Guice and supports Comet based channels. (GraniteDS: http://www.graniteds.org/)

ZendAMF -- Provides a way to connect Flex and AIR applications with the PHP Zend framework applications. (ZendAMF: http://framework.zend.com/download/amf)

AMFPHP -- Provides a remoting gateway between Flash platform applications and PHP components. (AMFPHP: http://www.amfphp.org/)

SabreAMF -- Another open source remoting gateway between Flex and PHP. (SabreAMF: http://code.google.com/p/sabreamf/)

WebORB -- Robust suite of data services products that connect with Java, Ruby, .Net, PHP and ColdFusion. (WebORB: http://www.themidnightcoders.com/products.htmll)

RubyAMF -- Open source flash remoting gateway for ruby and rails. (RubyAMF: http://code.google.com/p/rubyamf/)

RubyIZUMI -- Open source RTMP server for audio. video streaming that can be used for data push. (RubyIZUMI: http://code.google.com/p/rubyizumi/)

PyAMF -- AMF gateway for Python. (PyAMF: http://pyamf.org/)

Being experts on both sides of the wire, Flash platform (especially Flex and AIR) and the server environments and frameworks, Saven provides data services based services and solutions that are best in its class.

To learn more about out services, call us at 877 SAVEN 21 or drop us an email at flex@saventech.com