Software as a service--will that be with or without the client code? Software architects are grappling with that question, and business technology managers must be able to answer it. RightNow Technologies, which until now delivered CRM applications as a Web service that required nothing more than a browser and a couple of plug-ins for access, last week introduced a new version of its product that does things differently. RightNow 8 includes a 15-Mbyte "smart client" that interacts with logic and data hosted on servers in RightNow's data center. Users must download the client to use RightNow's service. RightNow 8 features new design tools to customize its applications and a real-time customer feedback capability.
