The Snippets Platform was designed to leverage a company's existing infrastructure, support a wide range of frequently changing needs and provide for rapid integration of new functionality, applications, and data sources.

The business and presentation logic associated with each Agent reside in small archives on a centrally managed server. To modify the logic or access privileges of a Agent, IT developers simply make the changes to that Agent and post the new version to the server. Modifications are automatically and seamlessly distributed to all the appropriate users and devices. New Agents are distributed in the same manner.

When deployed on the desktop, Active Dashboard loads the logic and files for each individual Agent from the server. With the logic and engine residing on the desktop, each Agent invokes the appropriate connection method for the applications and data sources it accesses and executes the functions and analysis contained in its programming.

A server-based version of the Active Dashboard will provide the Platform to wireless devices such as PDAs and cell phones later this year. The same business logic employed for desktop Agents can be used for wireless devices while custom presentation logic can be added to format the information appropriately for the target device's display capabilities.

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