As business application service practices continue to evolve, NeoSmartSuite™ provides leading-edge Web application design standards and practices. The NeoSmartSuite™ solution offers organizations a cost efficient, distributed architecture based upon Microsoft’s® .NET Framework, Windows™ Server 2000/2003, and SQL™ 2000/2005 Server platforms.

NeoSmartSuite™ uses a proven multi-tier architecture, separating the Presentation, Business Logic, and Data Layers. Isolating the Business Logic from the Presentation Layer (User Interface) makes it possible to reuse each of the business logic objects, whether accessed by HTML/XML, ASP. NET, or WML.

The NeoSmartSuite™ framework has been developed using Microsoft®’s Visual Studio.NET™ development environment which ensures customization enhancements can be easily managed and rapidly deployed. Simplifying development tasks in this manner helps lower the cost of ownership for NeoSmartSuite™ and provides swiftest time-to-market. For situations where companies need additional functions or features, the NeoSmartSuite™ environment accelerates the creation of Custom Business Modules that capture core business processes of the company as an application within the NeoSmartSuite™ secure collaboration portal.

  Below are the key architectural benefits of NeoSmartSuite™:

Security & Trust Focused - Security creates barriers, while trust establishes confidence that an organization can deliver a portal or Web Services with advertised capability and with acceptable levels of risk. In the past organizations have protected enterprise assets by erecting high walls (firewalls) which prevent access at a transport level; it is assumed that inside the high walls everyone is to be trusted. Today, inadequacies of such assumptions are recognized. Firewalls are inadequate and more fine-grained control over access, usage and reporting is essential. Web Services provide fine-grained control, but have the potential to increase exposure to greater levels of risk.  This is why NeoSmartSuite™ was designed with the understanding that security is never absolute; the best technical security will always be under threat from determined individuals. NeoSmartSuite™ provides the required levels of protection that are relevant to a portal framework.

NeoSmartSuite™ stores all user related data such as accounts, roles and permissions in a Microsoft SQL Server database. If forms authentication is used, passwords are encrypted (MD5) and stored in a database table. Strong Passwords can be enforced, such as minimal password length (8 characters) and the use of case sensitivity, and password expiration dates. NeoSmartSuite™ can also be integrated into existing user store environments such as Microsoft® Active Directory, Microsoft® SQL Server user databases, LDAP, and 3^rd Party SSO solutions like Netegrity®.

NeoSmartSuite™ further enhances security by providing fine-grain control using Role Based Access Control (RBAC). NeoSmartSuite™’s RBAC Portal security is based on three key concepts; Authentication, Authorization and Privileges.

ID-Based Security (Authentication) - which determines if a user is trusted and tracks activities during their login session. After a user provides their credentials, NeoSmartSuite™ authenticates their identity and the system issues an authorization key to acquire the user’s identity. Subsequent requests from the browser automatically include the key. For example a user may have access to a module (application) on a page but will only see their own records.

Role-Based Security (Authorization) - which defines clearly who is authorized to access what. Provided through Access Control Lists (ACLs), these lists define which users and roles can access the portal, modules, and any electronic assets such as documents. For example, a user might have access to the portal, but have limited views to Pages and Modules (Applications).

Activity-Based Security (Privileges) - which defines who can perform what actions. Provided through Activity Privileges assigned to roles. For example, a user might have the privileges to perform administrative tasks as an Administrator of a particular Community or Module yet not be able to view/add/modify other areas of the page or portal.

Most simply defined, RBAC enables a company to control WHO will have access to WHAT, and HOW much control should be given.

Rapid Extensibility – NeoSmartSuite™’s highest value is in the rapid extension of portal functionality by enabling creation of highly customizable business application modules. These modules automatically inherit the security attributes of the framework yet are highly customizable to suit tightly focused business processes. Modules can be simply and inexpensively built by the framework team, the client team or a chosen third party organization, then certified appropriately. This model is a significant differentiator for NeoSmartSuite™ and has been welcomed by existing clients.

User Interface Flexibility - Customers can create a custom user experience within the NeoSmartSuite™ portal framework. Unlike traditional portal environments, the NeoSmartSuite™ portal framework features a user interface that is customizable on-the-fly within the portal framework and by implementing custom page layout templates (Themes) that enable global changes to the entire portal branding. Look-and-feel changes can be applied to the portal globally in addition to independently controlling look and feel of particular portal Pages, Modules, and Communities. Custom themes can be created by Web Designers in their favorite Web Editor like FrontPage™ or DreamWeaver® without involving a .NET Developer. Sample Theme code and instructions are provided in the Developer Guide.

Custom Business Application (Modules) - Rather than requiring customers to build an application with a proprietary coding tool, NeoSmartSuite offers sample code and documentation (Developer Guide) which includes code samples developed by our engineering team for use by a customer’s development team. The sample code and documentation for creating custom applications that work inside the NeoSmartSuite™ framework are provided in a standard .NET format that can be used in a developer’s favorite .NET IDE like Visual Studio™ or Delphi® 2005 (C# Builder).

Standards Based - NeoSmartSuite™ is built from the ground up on proven and emerging industry standards. We have leveraged the already proven advantages of .NET, Web Services and XML to provide a secure, collaborative portal application which is both flexible and extensible. Our system is built on Microsoft®'s .NET platform, a framework itself designed to provide robust distributed services leveraging the Internet.

The NeoSmartSuite™ portal framework is written completely in ASP.NET (VB.NET & C#), and supports Custom Modules built in any .NET compliant language such as C# or J#. Because NeoSmartSuite™ uses .NET on the platform of Microsoft® Windows Server 2000™ & Windows Server 2003™, it enables companies to leverage a platform and a framework designed specifically for providing enterprise services across the Internet.