Progress Software has launched a product the business application software company believes will change how companies deal with remote offices and mobile workers.
The PeerDirect Distributed Enterprise product allows data and applications to be deployed at the local level while being managed from a central location.
Carl Olofson, programme director for information management and data integration software at International Data Corp (IDC), said the model was ideal in handling this kind of problem.
'The central database has played a key role in corporations for many years. But to maintain the integrity of the database it has been necessary keep all relevant data in one place. This has severely inhibited flexibility for distributed organisations or organisations with mobile workers,' he said.
'The alternative has been complex and error-prone attempts at data movement and satellite database management. As a result, companies have never had a practical way to deploy true distributed applications.'
According to Mr Olofson, the PeerDirect solution handles these problems by maintaining central control of the database but allowing local deployment.