Software critical to the running of a business.
Business applications are core applications critical to the running of a business. Business applications can range from large line-of-business systems to specialized tools. Consider all the applications that run on either client computers or servers, including commercial off-the-shelf products, customized third-party systems, and internally developed systems.
Business applications tend to have the following key features in common:
- The ability to access and maintain data in a central data store
- A Client/server architecture
- A workflow providing a structured means of entering/modifying data
- A user interface providing an efficient means of entering/modifying data
- Business rules
- Data validation rules
- The ability to obtain information from the system (via reports)
- Authentication and authorization of users