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Seedco Helps Those Who Need it Most with Application Built Using JBoss Enterprise Middleware
January 4, 2011
Customer: Seedco (www.seedco.org)
Industry: Non Profit Organization
Geography: North America
Country: United States
Business Challenge:
An aging, inflexible legacy system could no longer support Seedco’s highly successful EarnBenefits program that helps low-income workers access a range of public and private benefits and work supports.
Solution:
A web-based application built using JBoss Enterprise Middleware running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Software:
JBoss Enterprise Middleware, JBoss Enterprise Business Rules Management System, Hibernate Framework, JBoss Seam Framework and Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Hardware:
Industry-standard Intel-based x86 servers
Benefits:
The new application allowed Seedco to streamline the process of determining eligibility and accelerate access to benefits by qualified individuals. The solution also contributed to the organization’s bottom line, as other non-profit organizations are licensing the software solution to use in their own benefits programs.“JBoss Enterprise Middleware is an extremely sophisticated technology that can be used to address almost every kind of enterprise problem. I really don’t see any other offering that competes with it.”– Jake Kirby, Vice President of Information Technology, Seedco
Background:
Seedco is a national nonprofit organization that advances economic opportunity for people, businesses and communities in need. Founded in 1986 with funds from the Ford Foundation, Seedco has become a model for how community development organizations can best serve their constituents. Seedco and its subsidiary Seedco Financial Services have operations in 17 states and the District of Columbia. Seedco’s leadership in designing innovative programs, partnership and services for workers, families and businesses is widely recognized throughout the economic and workforce development community.
Business Challenge: . This number drops precipitously with age: Only 28 percent of eligible seniors take advantage of the program
2 Ibid
2 Ibid
Solution:
The JBoss Seam Framework was also a critical part of the solution. A powerful open source development platform for building rich Internet applications in Java, Seam integrates technologies such as Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), JavaServer Faces (JSF), Java Persistence (JPA), Enterprise Java Beans (EJB 3.0) and business process management (BPM) into a unified full-stack solution.
Seedco also chose the JBoss Hibernate Framework so it could isolate the back-end database in a way that would allow it to change databases without affecting the application.
Benefits:
JBoss Enterprise Business Rules Management System did not disappoint. Today, business users across the country can quickly respond to changes in government regulations and policies by changing the application’s rules as needed without having to wait for software developers to write new code.
The Seam Framework also offered significant advantages. “Because we’re planning to distribute this application across the country, we didn’t want to have to install the software at our clients, but to use the web instead,” said Aaron Trauring. “What’s nice about JSF and RichFaces and Seam is that we can develop very sophisticated rich applications that we can constantly change as necessary.” Seedco’s software development team is able to roll out new features and capabilities every three months, and because everyone is using a web browser to access the application, it all works seamlessly. “We could never have done that without Seam,” said Trauring.
Seedco is now finding that its application can be used as a revenue generator as well. Non-profits continually struggle for cash, so this development is a welcome addition to the operating budget. “As word about this application spreads, other non-profit organizations have come to Seedco to license it,” said Kirby. “They tell us that this is the most sophisticated solution available—not just as a commercial package, but also compared to anything they could develop in-house.”
Looking forward, Seedco expects to be using Red Hat technologies in other key projects. “JBoss Enterprise Middleware is an extremely sophisticated technology, and you can use it to address almost every kind of enterprise problem,” said Kirby. “I really don’t see any other offering that competes with it.”
