Riege Simplifies Cloud Computing With New WebSocket Protocol
Meerbusch, Germany – With the current version 4.0 of Scope®, Riege Software International has once again simplified cloud computing for its customers. The newly-developed transport management system for air and ocean freight management and customs applications now supports the WebSocket protocol. The HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)-based network protocol was introduced in December 2011 as an open standard to create continuous, bidirectional links between web applications such as Scope and WebSocket or application servers. Riege Software International’s Scope solution is the first of a new generation of applications that operate using this new standard. The WebSocket protocol is considered to be the future standard for client-server communication.
The transportation management system previously used a proprietary protocol for communication between client and server but Riege replaced this with the WebSocket protocol, which allows communication via a single standard TCP port instead of the multiple ports previously required.
Johannes Riege, Managing Director of Riege Software International, sees the development as an important milestone for Scope, for which there are now many language versions and country-specific modules and functions. “The future belongs to software from the cloud. More and more of our customers are benefiting from the advantages, such as less maintenance and lower costs as well as greater security. With 4.0 Scope and the elimination of VPN connections, things are now even easier.”
The previous protocol required the creation of a network connection to one of Riege Software International’s three data centers. This meant an additional workload for the user which can now be eliminated. Moreover, no additional software or hardware is needed, which reduces the internal IT workload significantly.
With Scope version 4.0, customers can use the software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution directly via an encrypted internet connection. The new WebSocket protocol enables a continuous connection between client and server. In addition, firewalls installed by customers do not have to be configured separately in order to enable access to other SSL-enabled websites, such as online banking.
Among the users of Scope as a SaaS solution is the German-Singaporean freight forwarder Pan Asia Logistics. The company has introduced Scope “from the cloud” in all 40 branches. In April 2012 the switchover of the new headquarters of Pan Asia Logistics in Singapore followed. The software used by Pan Asia Logistics is administered centrally in the new Riege data center in Hong Kong.
About Riege Software International
Riege Software International, based in Meerbusch, near Düsseldorf, Germany is one of the leading providers of comprehensive software solutions for air and sea freight forwarding and customs applications. With some 80 staff, more than 300 clients and branches in Europe, Asia, North America and Australia, the family-owned company has been a trusted partner of forwarders, carriers and manufacturing businesses for the last 25 years. The list of long-term users of Riege’s software solutions includes Dachser, DB Schenker, Jet-Speed, Kerry Logistics, Logwin, Pan Asia Logistics, SDV Geis, UTi and Zufall.