Inventors:
David Bennett - Bothell WA, US
Paul Bilibin - Lynnwood WA, US
Mark Bjerke - Bellevue WA, US
Lynn Goldhaber - Renton WA, US
Hsiangwen Hu - Redmond WA, US
Lory Krett - Bremerton WA, US
Jinyue Liu - Sammamish WA, US
Paul McLaughlin - Sammamish WA, US
Reichie Nelson - Everret WA, US
Charles Mentzer - Sammamish WA, US
Matthew Smith - Redmond WA, US
William Smith - Medina WA, US
Harland Maier - Redmond WA, US
Geoffrey McGrath - Seattle WA, US
International Classification:
G06F 9/44
Abstract:
The present invention includes systems and methods for the controlled deployment of software in a web-based environment where multiple versions of a single application are supported to provide field experience of various versions before general deployment. The systems and methods of the invention support backwards compatibility, which allows older versions of the same software to be accessed concurrently with newer (revised) versions. Likewise, data item opaqueness is supported whereby data items not recognized by a software level or tier are not rejected but are passed on to another tier or level where they may be recognized.