Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) reflect the gradual transition of Web applications for the simple thin-client model of traditional Web browsers to a richer distributed function model. Because RIAs are significantly more complex than traditional browser-based Web applications, they pose new design, measurement and management challenges.

This white paper discusses the evolution of traditional Web pages and applications, highlighting the behavioral characteristics of the emerging class of RIAs. Explore how these more complex applications affect today's measurement tools and methods. Discover how RIAs impact Web SLM processes that were originally intended for designing and managing the performance of traditional Web applications. Gain insight into how these richer user experiences are being implemented with technologies such as Flash, AJAX, and Java, using standard Internet and Web protocols.