Smart Client Solutions with XML and Office Applications

Office 2003 can manipulate XML data using customer-defined formats, or schema. This new capability enables creation of custom “smart client” solutions, allowing users to work with XML data from a variety of sources using familiar client applications, such as Excel. However, IT organizations that adopt smart client solutions must also be prepared to update existing server applications, invest time developing and deploying custom XML schema, and ensure that their clients are licensed and patched.

The Case for Smart Client Solutions

For several years, Microsoft has been recommending that IT organizations adopt “smart client” solutions as an alternative to Web-based clients. A smart client solution generally consists of a client component running on a device with local processing power and storage (such as a personal computer or intelligent device such as a Pocket PC) communicating with a server-based back end and using XML as the data interchange format. (See the illustration “Smart Client Solution Overview“.)