3 Elements of Delivery

Three

Delivering solutions is complicated because there are three elements that have to work together and these elements can be seen from two perspectives, so really, there are about six things going on in describing this.  But I'll keep it simple.  The major *technology* parts of delivery are:

1. The content management system.
2. The API
3. The App

The two perspectives from which they can be seen are:

1. The user as the company's customers
2. The user as the company's employees

Depending on how we look at the parts, we get different results.  But in general, these are how the parts work and work together. 

The content management system is the part of the solution that the customer interacts with to control the content. This may be company employees and this can be end users (in other words, in one context, this could act as the app itself).  What's happening here is that INPUT is being received and stored in the database for presentation in the app, be that a business intelligence dashboard, or in a customer-facing app for the people (intranet, mobile, intranet, extranet, whatever).

The API is the thing that connects to the database/data store and "gives" the data to the app.  The API also "takes" information from the app and can persist that data as necessary in the data store.  The API's job is to provide a SERVICE that the app can use to get and put information.  The APIs job is to obfuscate the complexity of the database and business rules from the user/developer and give a simple way to interact with business objects / data.

The app is the thing that is awesome and pretty.  It is the main UI/UX that the user interacts with.  It is THE THING.  It is THE BIG THING.  It is the thing that people want to buy, use, and sell.  It is the sexy object of interaction, etc.  Somehow we want this.

My company offers APPS (and these other supporting elements of delivery) on mobile and any other relevant platform: PC, console, intranet, extranet, whatever you want.