Summary

ISHOPHERE.COM used Zope to build all of the media conduits and interfaces for ISHOPHERE.COM's ad production server within one month, using two developers.

Case Facts

During the first three weeks of the project, Zope was used to build the middleware between Oracle 8.0.4 and a dynamic graphics server (i.e., Macromedia Generator). Data entry would be done on a continuing basis by a team of five people entering data entry into Oracle through the middleware interfaces and forms in Zope.

Problem

The challenge for ISHOPHERE.COM was to find the most efficient method to quickly develop the middleware and plan for the seamless addition of further functionality as needed. The overall design had to include the following: o Ad production would increase dramatically. o Non-technical account representatives needed to be able to manage the ISHOPHERE.COM site. o Simple and easy to use. o Ads needed to be built, tested, approved and deployed in a real-time environment. o ISHOPHERE.COM utilizes Flash animation, and required 95% of the media to be dynamically generated.

Solution

A Zope-based solution was rolled out in one month. Ad production capacity jumped forty times! Non-technical account reps directly manage the site using web forms in Zope. Current production includes 632 Shockwave Flash animations and over 5,500 products(and growing) managed by Zope and Oracle. Official Site Launch date of Aug. 16, 1999. All the data for the ads (i.e., Photo, URLS, Descriptions, Positioning, Price and Tracking) are stored in Oracle and managed through Zope. "Zope allowed us to develop complex database applications faster and in a more stable manner than other middleware(asp or jsp), as it is very object oriented and extremely powerful. Zope with our ad production server is a mission critical application for us, we rely on it to make our business happen," says Information Officer Theodore E. Patrick. Zope provided the speed, efficiency, flexibility that were crucial in getting this complex project up and running in record time!