Oracle HTML DB is a feature of Oracle Database 10g designed to let customers easily build, deploy and manage secure Web applications using only a Web browser. Oracle HTML DB’s features include a Web interface, wizards, and pre-built user interface templates. The tool is integrated in all editions of Oracle Database 10g at no additional cost.

Two educational institutions—a public two-year college in the Midwest and a private four-year university on the West Coast—recently found success with Oracle HTML DB.

Lansing Community College (LCC) is a public two-year college serving more than 35,000 students in downtown Lansing, Mich. In 2004, LCC streamlined its application development process by standardizing on Oracle HTML DB, which enabled the college to quickly and efficiently develop secure and highly available Web applications and lower costs by consolidating various third-party tools and related product licenses.

The school consolidated several Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel-based applications with Oracle HTML DB. They integrated the new Oracle HTML DB applications with their mission-critical data, which is stored in an Oracle Database. As a result, LCC eliminated redundant data off of desktops, improved data accuracy and security, and is able to better protect and share data securely.

"Oracle HTML DB has clearly strengthened our ability to collect and present information via robust Web-based applications, with very short turnarounds and with very high user acceptance," said Glenn Cerny, chief information officer, Lansing Community College. "We have been able to develop and deploy three production systems in two to three weeks. All users benefit from these applications, not just the 'high-level' users."

Located in San Diego, Calif. and founded in 1949, the University of San Diego (USD) is a comprehensive university offering undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in a variety of disciplines. As in most large university settings, USD faces an increasing requirement to provide students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni with Web-based self-service applications.

With ease-of-use and scalability at the forefront of its needs, USD selected Oracle HTML DB for its custom development solution. Using Oracle HTML DB, USD developed and deployed two key applications that have improved operational efficiency -- Self-Service Financial Aid and Computer Assets Management Information systems.

Prior to developing and implementing the Financial Aid application, USD would print, collate, and mail nearly 16,000 individual offers of financial assistance to students and their parents. Financial Services staff members were focused on packaging materials to send out rather than interacting with students.

The new system provides students immediate access to their financial aid offers via the Web, greatly increasing the efficiency of a traditional manual system. Students are notified of the offers, required documents and offers generated through the use of this Oracle HTML DB application.

With its Computer Assets Management Information System, USD consolidated data from disparate systems such as spreadsheets and Microsoft Access databases into a single, secure system using Oracle Database and Oracle HTML DB. Prior to this consolidation, it was difficult for the university to make timely IT decisions since data first needed to be merged from multiple systems before analysis could occur. Now with a Web-enabled system, system administrators enter their systems' data into a central repository that IT managers then can use to make sound, real-time decisions.

"With Oracle in use through most of our university, Oracle HTML DB was an excellent choice for much of our application development needs," said Rich Pickett, director of Administrative Information Services, University of San Diego. "In a very short period of time, we were able to provide useful applications to our user community via secure, scalable, browser-based implementations."