Lien views Web services as the key transport mechanism for all future Life Time application development. About the Web service interface Life Time created using SOAP with scheduling system ASP Xtime, he says, "The first Web service implementation takes some time, but it's pretty simple once you go through it."
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Turning Point
IT realized the current MMS architecture would not support a rollout to the Minnesota clubs, Life Time's largest membership base. So the group added a layer of servers to boost Java performance and stored member images at each club.
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The appeal of Web services is the ability to move specific data elements among internal business systems and to external partners. Application-to-application integration for every business system creates a hard-to-support environment, says Lien. But a hub-and-spoke architecture, where the JCA adapters sit in the middle playing traffic cop and each application has a single interface to communicate to the central JCA integration server, will simplify code development and maintenance while decreasing time to production for new features and applications.
Other key application environment changes Life Time is considering include a move to a non-Microsoft client OS, possibly Linux, at the clubs. This would help drive down licensing costs.
Browser neutrality is another goal, though Life Time realizes this will be hard to achieve. Finding a browser that supports Windows, Linux and Apple Mac OS at the client is nearly impossible, especially as some non-MMS applications support only certain browsers.
Another focal point is software module administration and code maintenance. Lien says MMS is very segmented, letting software modules be reused or shared among varied business applications. The adoption of the JCA and, in turn, Web services will decrease the number of software integration points, thus easing maintenance.
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