INFORMATION ACCESS

These applications allow visitors to your site to access information, but not enter transactions (or, they may be able to enter transactions using a separate application). It is usually easier to develop and maintain these applications than transactional applications.

Data is typically taken from an internal content management or database system, and uploaded to your live website. Data may be updated on demand or at regular intervals, as appropriate.

For example, an application might contain product specifications, coverage features (for insurance policies), loan terms (for lenders), information about investments, contact information for staff members, or schedules of classes. In some cases, the user may be required to log in to view information; in other applications it will be available to any website visitor.

Account inquiry

When a user is required to log in, the information may relate to his/her account, such as outstanding balance, payment history, overdue status or coverage limits. These applications, which often contain sensitive data, must be deployed in a secure environment, which will typically include a secure server certificate (SSL), and will be developed on a platform with inherent strong security features, such as the Microsoft .NET development environment.