Glue42, a provider of integrated desktop solutions to financial institutions globally, has released Glue42 Core, an open-source, fully functional platform for web application interoperability. The solution is available immediately to all in the financial services industry and those in other sectors.
The solution is based on Glue42’s widely-adopted interoperability platform Glue42 Enterprise, which allows companies to create sophisticated UI and data integrations between any type of application. Glue42 Core leverages Progressive Web Applications (PWA), a modern web technology to deliver a native app-like experience to users without any local install.
“Financial institutions looking to offer an enhanced user experience, often move their web applications outside the browser, using electron containers. This requires a desktop deployment which adds delays to deployment and creates unnecessary vendor lock-in, security risks and DevOps costs,” says Petyo Ivanov, Product Manager, Glue42.
Glue42 Core is the first solution to remove these barriers and can be used on desktops within the enterprise or by clients. For example, sell-side financial firms, who need to deliver a collection of applications to buy-side desktops can now achieve seamless integration without the overhead of installing local software components. This will also be of significant interest to those organisations who need their employees to work from home – yet get the same secure, enterprise experience as if they were in the office.
Since the use of PWAs on the financial desktop is a relatively new concept, Glue42 is open-sourcing its core to make interop and PWA more easily accessible to firms, developing a community around an open-source implementation also helps the adoption and development of open-source interfaces such as FINOS FDC3 which are crucial to the growth of the financial industry.
“Competing platforms and the lack of true open standards are slowing down interop initiatives,” says Leslie Spiro, CEO, Glue42. “We are changing the game with Glue42 Core and are offering a developer-honest, open-source solution. This means that if firms want to offer their teams fully functional workspaces, either within or outside of the enterprise, then their developers can use Glue42 Core at no cost. Google and Microsoft have been working to ensure that PWA’s can now offer a compelling desktop experience, using the existing browser. Look at the PWA versions of Office or Google Maps, as an example of what can be achieved. The browser is now the container of choice, so why pay for a proprietary licence, which requires a separate install, when you can get more flexibility and better functionality from a commercial-grade open-source platform, that works directly with your browser?”
“The operating system of the future is unlikely to be Windows or MacOS – but Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge,” says James Wooster, COO, Glue42. “We are therefore positioning Glue42 in the only place that makes sense for the long-term: web-to-web interop must become part of the native operating system. Needless to say, that Glue42 Core will also be at the forefront of supporting critical industry standards including FINOS FDC3.”
