Licensing and Pricing

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FAQ

Here are some quick no-nonsense answers to questions about Ebase Xi.

General Stuff

What is Ebase Xi exactly?

Xi is a rapid web application development platform that supports the development of sophisticated user interfaces, workflow processing, and data integration with pretty much anything that presents an API.

Our aim is to make it fast and easy for people to develop powerful, good looking web apps without needing to be an expert in low level programming or any number of supporting technologies. The product focus is totally about productivity. We go to enormous lengths to take away all of the time consuming complexity that people have to deal with when they work directly with web standards such as CSS, Javascript and XML, and low level programming languages like JAVA, C#, PHP, and Ruby.

They key to Xi’s productivity is that it is a single-technology platform that covers the entire scope of web app requirements and massively simplifies the development process.

Why should I use it rather than anything else?

Simple, you’ll deliver your application much faster and cheaper. The argument is all about time and money - if you need to spend the least amount getting your app delivered, and potentially we’re talking about one tenth of the amount of money you might be used to, then you’re going to find Xi helpful.

What do people use it for?

All types of web applications, anything that needs to collect data, validate it, present it, workflow it or integrate it with some sort of back office system. Includes web sites ranging from the virtually static through those where every user action needs to be processed.

Includes electronic forms, commercial software products, business process engineering projects, consuming and publishing web service APIs, SOA projects, intranets, content management systems, mobile web apps, single-page rich client UI’s, etc.

How mature is it?

Development began 2001, first release August 2002, now on V5. Thousands of applications and products developed and in production. Contact us to see more.

Who uses it?

Used by 50% of UK local government, blue chips like Vodafone and AXA, major software vendors such as Northgate PLC and Capita, charities, manufacturing companies, eCommerce sites. Multiple references available at every level.

Ok, so it’s fast to develop...but how fast?

Impossible to quantify but...roughly speaking, once a developer is properly up to speed, we reckon that Xi will be at least five times faster than someone using something like .NET, PHP, Cold Fusion or AngularJS. And that’s pretty conservative – for certain types of applications the speed up is a great deal more than that.

These sorts of development speeds are achieved by combining the Xi platform with an agile or RAD-style project approach. We recommend these methods because, quite simply, in the time it takes you to write up a detailed requirements document you could have gone through several prototype iterations with your business sponsor and already be into the important stuff like refining the look and feel and fine tuning the functionality.

Not to mention the benefits you get from removing the ”them and us” barriers that appear when there’s no close collaboration between developers and business.

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I’m worried that Xi is proprietary or niche? Am I right to worry?

Yes...and no. Yes, if we weren’t planning to roll Xi out to the global web app development community but no, because that’s exactly what we are doing. And doing it with a free Community Edition and a licensing model that we reckon will make cost a non-issue.

Also, programming in Xi is actually 100% Javascript on the server and the client, plus there’s support for native Java calls on the server-side – you can't get a much more open and widely used programming environment than that.

How quickly can my guys get up to speed?

A good developer will be up and running after a few days, certainly for the UI development, and then factor in another week to take in the Workflow and Integration Server. So, a couple of weeks all up.

For channel partners we compress the whole training program into one intensive week. But people coming out of that are ready to roll.

We also publish all of our training materials online so if you prefer the self-taught approach then that’s another option.

Licensing and Pricing

How much does it cost and what do I get?

All Xi licences include the entire platform – we don’t restrict any functionality.

All development and test licences are free of charge. Production licences are server-based (the hardware server that executes the Xi application server, that is) and are charged in proportion to the total maximum amount of concurrent sessions that you need across all of the Xi applications that you’re running.

We have the following editions, charged as follows:

Edition Maximum Concurrency Price

Community 10 Free of Charge

Professional 30 £1,200

Server Unlimited £3,200 per CPU core

Enterprise Unlimited Price on Application

If you want to include fix packs and new releases then we charge 20% extra per annum. Fix packs and new releases are included with the Community Edition free of charge though.

The Server Edition refers to a server with maximum 2 CPU’s (any type).

The Enterprise Edition is a negotiated price for people who need to buy a lot of Server Edition licences.

Some examples to make things clear:

You want to build a number of applications in Xi and run them on your Intranet. Your maximum concurrency across all of the applications is 10. All you need then is the Community Edition and there’s nothing to pay.

You want to build a product and sell to lots of people. Your customers are going to vary in size and you won’t know their run-time requirements until you’ve sold. No problem, at the point of installation you need to buy an Xi licence of the right size to run that customer. If your customer is small you could probably get away with the zero cost Community Edition. If they’re medium size, say maximum concurrency of 20 for your app then a Professional licence at £1,200 will do it. If they’re mega (congratulations) then you’re probably safest with a Server licence and then there’s no limit at all (apart from whatever the hardware can manage of course).

You want to set up a Cloud and serve 100,000 people concurrently across a wide range of Xi applications. You work it out that you need say 20 virtual servers in a cluster. Buying Server

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licences for each of those would work out expensive so, no problem, you give our sales guys a call and we use the Enterprise Edition to work out a better deal.

What do you mean by “concurrent users” exactly?

Whenever a user accesses an Ebase application it creates a session in the Ebase Server and we count that as one concurrent user. After a while, assuming that the user’s stopped doing anything, the session times out and gets removed. The length of this timeout is something that you set for the Xi Server.

We want to set the timeout to be really long. Does that mean we’re going to quickly exceed our concurrency limit?

No, Xi only counts user sessions that have been active in the last 15 minutes. It seems very cheap – how come?

If it all seems like incredibly good value then cool, use it! The Community Edition – what am I allowed to do with that?

Whatever you like...build applications, commercial products for re-sale, whatever. It’s completely free and shippable, just bear in mind that the run-time limit on concurrency is 10.

How much would it cost me to get something equivalent to Xi from elsewhere?

Hard to say, and whatever we said people would say we’re not comparing like with like. But, for sure, if you approached the major development tools vendors like Microsoft, IBM, Software AG, Adobe and the like then you’d be talking $100,000 plus, plus annual maintenance, plus a serious increase in complexity and overall cost of ownership.

Technical Architecture

How does it hang together architecturally? Two parts, the Xi Designer and the Xi Server.

The Xi Designer runs stand-alone on your desktop and contains everything you need to develop and test. The apps you build are deployed to an Xi Server using the Xi Deployment Manager. At run-time your application is called via a URL to the Xi Server, which executes it and dynamically constructs the HTML, etc. that gets returned to the browser.

The Xi Designer is a JAVA Swing application; the Xi Server is a JAVA Servlet and runs on any J2EE compliant application server (Tomcat, JBOSS, etc.)

You typically have three server environments, development, test and production. You move applications between these three using the Deployment Manager.

We run .NET – will it work alongside that? Yes, no problem.

Can I run it on my servers?

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Can I run it in the Cloud?

Yes, the Xi Server is optimised for very high concurrency and supports hardware server clustering for horizontal scaling if required.

But let's be clear about what we mean. By Cloud operation we mean a hosted run-time environment with all of the following:

 Scalable performance, both vertically and across a cluster

 Robust, reliable and high availability operating environment

 Very high run-time concurrency (10,000 plus)

 Multi-tenancy applications, meaning one instance of an Xi application serving multiple independent customers. Individual customer renderings colour washed to match styling requirements, etc.

 Easy app deployment and upgrade (no take down)

 Flexible security models for user authentication and authorisation. And by Cloud we mean Public, Private and Hybrid cloud operations. What operating systems will the Xi Server run on?

Any that will run JAVA. So, all flavours of Windows and UNIX for sure, any sort of mainframe or mainstream mid-size computer, and pretty much everything in between.

What sort of server do I need to run the Xi Server?

Well, not to dodge the question, but the answer is that it depends entirely on what your application does and how many people are going to be running it at the same time.

Having said that, and in the absence of any more information, we’d suggest something like a 2-CPU server, RAID-5 disks, 4Gb RAM and a 64-bit OS. Either Windows or UNIX will be fine. A server like that, running a typical Xi app, will be able handle a lot (thousands) of concurrent users and their associated data processing.

Also, if you go 64-bit, you’ll be able to scale your hardware up as you add more apps. Does Ebase provide a Cloud I can run my Xi apps in?

Yes we do, prices on request. Will Xi run in a Docker container?

Yes, no problem.

Integration

What does Xi integrate with?

Out of the box integration with databases (JDBC driver needed) including stored procedures and functions where supported, various XML transport mechanisms including Web Services (calling and publishing), flat files, PDF, email, MQ Series, JMS Messaging.

Also ships with an SDK that allows people to create custom integration (Resources, in Xi parlance) and plug them into the platform for use by Xi developers.

How does integration work?

Xi represents everything outside of your app that you want to exchange data with as a Resource of an appropriate type, e.g. web service Resource, database Resource, etc. Each Resource will have fields that can be used to pass data to the Resource or read data from it. The developer then simply maps (binds) the fields in his app to fields in the Resource and makes calls to the Resource using simple internal API methods to move data in or out of the app.

Xi provides various wizards for creating Resources, e.g. creating a web service Resource by importing a WSDL or reading the meta-data from an underlying database to create a database Resource representing a particular table.

For example, you have a database table called PEOPLE. You want to read and write to it from your app at some point. No problem, you point Xi at the database that holds it and follow the

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wizard to create a database Resource called, say, PEOPLE_RESOURCE. You then use the wizard to map your application fields to the Resource fields and that’s it, now you can read and write to it from your application.

Typically, creating a new database Resource to the point where you can use it in an app will take less than a minute. So, to now use the Resource you just issue internal API commands against it, e.g. to read data in from the PEOPLE table:

resources.PEOPLE_RESOURCE.fetch(); To insert new data:

resources.PEOPLE_RESOURCE.insert(); To update existing data:

resources.PEOPLE_RESOURCE.update(); To delete existing data:

resources.PEOPLE_RESOURCE.delete();

And that’s it. Database integration in Xi distils down to four simple commands with the Resource handling everything else on your behalf.

This principle of using simple internal API methods to interact with Resources of different types is one of Xi’s key productivity features. In Xi all data communication with the outside world has been reduced to a simple API call, e.g. to send an email:

resources.EMAIL_RESOURCE_NAME.sendmail(); To call a web service:

resources.MYWSRESOURCE.call();

All this means that an Xi developer doesn’t need to be a low-level expert in every technology around and definitely doesn’t need to spend valuable time hand-coding every integration point their app needs. You simply let Xi set up the Resources for you and then address them via simple Javascript API commands. This way you end up with a very small amount of code and a correspondingly small maintenance effort when things need to be changed.

Can I use it to interface to my existing databases?

Yes. Xi will communicate with any database that has a JDBC driver available. What databases is it able to access?

Xi will communicate with any database that has a JDBC driver available. This includes Postgres, MySQL, Oracle, SqlServer, IBM UDB, and Ingres to name just a few.

Can Xi call Web Services?

Yes, full support for both REST and SOAP web services.

For SOAP services Xi provides a wizard to create an Xi web service Resource straight from a WSDL file. You then bind the web service Resource to your app and call the web service using the internal Javascript API as usual. Very simple. Take a look at the FAQs on integration for more background.

Can it publish Web Services?

Yes, this is the job of the Integration Server module. The publishing process is wizard driven and usually takes less than a minute. The web service’s processing is implemented using Ebase’s internal Javascript-based API. Have a look at the business logic FAQ for more information.

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I have a load of legacy systems – can Xi integrate with these?

Yes, almost certainly. Integration is one of Xi’s strongest points and the ability to bring data together from any number of separate systems is a core part of its value proposition.

Built-in integration support for databases, web services, flat files, email, PDF’s, etc. plus the ability to call JAVA natively as well as support for creating custom JAVA-based integrations and that can be plugged into the platform for Xi developer use.

Can I use it to take payments?

Yes, we’ve integrated a wide range of payment engines including PayPal, WorldPay, NetBanx and HSBC, to name a few. Two mechanisms are supported: direct, via whatever API the payment service provides, or indirect via a decorated URL transferring control to the payment service provider’s web site (with a subsequent call-back to the Xi application on completion of the payment).

Can Xi send text messages?

Yes, you just need to set up an account with an SMS service provider and then you’ll be able to text under Xi app control.

Can Xi send data via FTP?

Yes, available as a Resource type. Can it integrate with NoSQL databases?

Yes, available as a Resource type.

Business Logic

How is business logic implemented?

Two choices: Server-side Javascript supported by an extensive internal API or FPL, Xi’s own processing language. Both provide full read and write access to every aspect of your application’s run-time state.

About the server-side Javascript: this is a complete implementation of the Mozilla Rhino Javascript engine with full support for ECMA and native JAVA execution. Xi provides a comprehensive API that gives app developers run-time control over every aspect of their application, e.g. UI interactions, validation, navigation, processing, data integration, workflow process step routing, web service processing, etc.

About FPL: this is designed to be very simple and easy to use alternative to using Javascript. FPL is made up of intuitive and easy to use commands and includes a library of arithmetic, character and date functions, supports if-then-else processing, loop constructs, sub-routines, and dynamic command generation. Also enables dynamic addressing of all Xi control properties, data integration via Xi Resources and printing control.

A few simple examples:

To hide a field: hide FIELD_NAME; To show a field: show FIELD_NAME;

To call a different Xi app passing in some data: call XIAPP param1=somedata; To read some data in from a database Resource: fetch DATABASE_RESOURCE_NAME;

FPL scripts fire in response to Xi application events, e.g. when an application loads, an event fires, when someone changes a field value, an event fires, and so on.

FPL is also extensible with Custom Functions. Custom Functions are developed in JAVA against a shipped API and are typically used to call out to an external code library to provide some service, e.g. an external graphing package.

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Can it access the software I’ve already developed? Yes, two options.

Option 1: Javascript or JAVA Option 2: FPL

Custom Functions are developed extensions to FPL, whilst Custom Resources are JAVA-developed custom integration modules. Both may be plugged into Xi and addressed directly from FPL.

Is FPL easy to learn?

Any software engineer is going to find FPL very, very simple. It’s procedural, English-like (you can pretty much guess the commands) and intuitive. For experienced IT guys learning FPL is more about discovering which commands do what, rather than having to learn anything.

We use JAVA for business logic – can Xi call that?

Yes, via FPL using Custom Functions or Custom Resources or directly using the native JAVA support built into Xi’s server-side Javascript. Take a look at the FAQ about accessing already developed software.

Deployment

How does Deployment work?

Xi has a built-in Deployment Manager that lets you assemble a deployment package, i.e. all of the elements (files and data) that make up your application, and deploy it to a target server with a single click. There’s no need to log into the target server at any point and any refactoring work (like loading data or changing database tables) can be included.

Typically a developer might deploy first to TEST, then later from TEST to PRODUCTION. In terms of setting it up, all you need to do is register your target servers to the Deployment Manager and you’re good to go.

A deployment package can also include any rollback processing that must happen if a particular deployment package needs to be backed out.

The Deployment Manager makes the whole process of releasing an Xi very, very simple and lets developers concentrate on what’s important - delivering application functionality.

Components

Can I design reusable application components?

Yes, very strongly supported and encouraged in Xi. Three types: field, part-page and page. Each can exist entirely independently of an application that uses it and can have its own independent integration mechanisms and processing. Xi components can be nested, i.e. built out of other components. A component can be as simple as a single field with a validation check or as complex as an entire sub-application.

Xi components are maintained independently of the applications that use them at run-time. Changes to a component are automatically synchronised across all of the applications that they are deployed to.

Components are designed to enhance productivity through re-use.

Workflow

What is the Xi workflow exactly?

Xi’s workflow allows the individual steps that make up a business process to be modelled and executed as discrete tasks, each of which must be completed in sequence. The sequence may be pre-defined, or can be determined dynamically at run-time. For example, if a loan application gets approved then the workflow goes one way, if it’s rejected, it goes another.

The individual tasks may be interactive, i.e. will turn up on someone’s task list and must be actioned by them for completion, or maybe system-based, in which case the task will be

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something that can be executed by software, e.g. the integration of a piece of data with an external system.

Xi’s workflow supports parallel processing (splits and joins), sub-processes, escalation events, wait events (waiting for an external event before proceeding), and a task assignment mechanism that can map on to any externally defined security (authorisation) model.

Workflow routing is controlled by either Xi’s FPL language or server-side Javascript engine, as is any data integration processing that’s required.

Interactive workflow tasks are mapped to Xi browser apps. When a user selects an allocated task from their task list the Xi app automatically fires up with all mapped data being automatically passed in. Wizards are provided to make the binding between interactive tasks and Xi browser-based apps fast and easy.

Does it handle splits and joins? Yes.

Can I design my own task lists?

Yes, Xi workflow task lists are simply Xi apps working against the workflow API. You can use the shipped samples or you can create your own using normal Xi development methods,

Does Xi workflow come with an administrator dashboard?

Yes, ships with a Xi application that provides a full administration console. Also ships with an API that allows additional administration consoles to be developed if required.

Presentation and Styling

How does Xi handle styling?

Xi provides a layer of functionality that simplifies the process of laying-out and styling browser apps. Xi supports panels, corresponding to HTML DIV tags, which act as containers for Xi controls (e.g. fields, menus, tab sets, lists, etc.)

Additionally, Xi supports a number of Layout Types that allow a developer to easily position content (such as controls, or other panels) within a panel. Layout Types include horizontal, vertical, column, flow, field grid and custom layout types that may be combined to effortlessly represent any page layout without any knowledge of CSS positioning, and with complete confidence that the design will render exactly the same in any browser.

All Xi controls may be styled using CSS against their defined properties. To assist developers, the styling associated with a particular control may be saved as a Property Set and be shared and reused as a default for that control type. This functionality allows developers to create an Xi Presentation Template, a complete styling set for a development project which gets automatically applied whenever a developer selects a control to use.

All styling properties and Presentation Templates may be addressed at run-time via FPL or server-side Javascript, Xi’s processing languages. This gives developers the ability to dynamically control application look and feel as required, e.g. to colour-wash an application running in the Cloud (for different users), to hide or show content depending on a user’s authorisation, and so on.

Can it support rich client stuff? Yes, very much so.

For example, Xi has built-in support for JQUERY event processing. It also has a client API that allows any 3rd party browser widget (graph, grid, chart etc.) to be effortlessly plugged in and data-bound to an Xi application.

The Xi client API provides direct access to data (and functions and methods) held in an application’s state and supports automatic browser DOM-based screen synchronisation between the client and the server. So, for example, if you run something on the server that changes how the app should look in the browser then these changes are automatically applied for you – no need for coding or logic. Very similar to the way the Observer pattern works, for those who like that sort of thing.

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It’s also worth mentioning that the client API gives you direct access to whatever you have in your application’s server-side state. NB. This is VERY different from an AJAX-type call to the server which, by definition, is state-less. The client API’s stateful server access is a very powerful idea that allows developers to effortlessly build sophisticated apps that transparently merge client and server-side processing.

Can it support AJAX processing?

Yes, we do…BUT you really don’t need to bother with this type of complex processing. Anything you want to access on the server is easily available via Xi’s client API. All you need to do is declare a server function or dataset as client accessible and just call it directly from Javascript running on the browser, and return whatever data you need. Very simple.

As easy, for example as executing a single Javascript command, e.g. $eb.executeFunction(‘myFunction’);

where myFunction is a server-side Javascript function.

Have a look at the rich client FAQ for more ideas about the power that this all offers. Do Ebase provide page layout templates?

Yes, we ship a number of examples. More can be found in the Resource Centre, plus video examples of how to take a CSS template and turn it into an Xi layout.

Can I create my own page templates? Yes, fully supported in the Xi Designer. Can I call REST web services?

Yes, no problem. Xi server-side Javascript has full support for HTTP calls and JSON and XML processing.

How is it for Mashups?

We love Mashups. Integrating data from different sources and in different formats and then rendering it a super-cool UI is exactly what Xi excels at!

Have a look at the questions about presentation management, rich client stuff and Xi’s client API for more information.

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The client API. What’s that all about?

To put it simply, this is a unique feature of Xi that gives Javascript running in the browser side of your app direct access to everything (data and processing logic) that you have available in your app’s server state. No need for complex AJAX processing, you just call a server side function and get your data back for processing on the client.

Things the client API makes easy:

 Calling Web Services from browser processing (technically messy normally)

 Data binding 3rd party rich client widgets (charts, grids, etc.)

 Sophisticated application design, i.e. encourages a simple modular that places heavy processing on the server and simply calls it from the client

 Creating apps which automatically poll data from external sources and refresh parts of the UI, e.g. stock data feeds or real-time graphing

Printing

How does printing work in Xi?

Printing in Xi is very simple. FPL and Javascript API calls will automatically create a PDF rendering of any Xi application page (or group of pages) within an app. Options allow designers to specify behaviour around expanding lists of data, page breaks, text areas, and so on.

Can I generate PDFs?

Yes, this is the standard Xi printing function. Can I write out to existing PDFs?

PDF forms are a type of Xi Resource and so can be mapped directly to an application and written out to at run-time via FPL or Javascript.

Can I write out barcodes?

Yes, various formats supported.

Security

I need to authenticate my users – does it support that?

You can run any Xi application with security turned on. In that mode Xi will insist that a user be authenticated before accessing an application. Various authentication mechanisms are supported, i.e. lookup to LDAP, via passed in cookie, parameter or HTTP session variable. If no authentication token is passed then Xi will automatically present the user with a logon screen. Authentication and authorisation are comprehensively handled within Xi’s security support and allow for easy synchronisation with single sign-on systems. Xi security is designed to be very flexible and to assume that application security will be managed outside of the Xi environment. Can Xi use my LDAP set-up?

Yes, fully supported.

We’ve built our own security system – can Xi work with that? Yes, fully supported. Have a look at the FAQ on authentication. Does Xi handle the OWASP top 10?

Yes, penetration testing against the OWASP top 10 is a routine part of Xi testing.

Team Working

Does Xi support large development teams?

Developers work stand-alone using a source control system to check completed developments in and out of their local workspace. This model supports unlimitedly large development teams working on the same application and using a continuous integration approach.

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Electronic Forms

Can I use Xi to develop my electronic forms?

Yes, Xi is the leading electronic forms platform for 140 UK local government organisations.

SOA

Can I use Xi to provide an SOA?

Yes, the Xi platform lends itself very well to service oriented solutions. Have a look at the SOA white paper in the Resource centre for a detailed explanation.

Performance and Scaling

Does Xi perform?

Ebase V5 is highly optimised for performance and will scale linearly both vertically and horizontally, i.e. by simply adding CPU, memory and IO bandwidth to one Ebase server, or across a cluster of separate hardware servers.

We routinely limit test Xi for high volume concurrency and expect that an adequately specified Xi Server environment will support many hundreds of thousands of users.

Internationalisation

Does Xi support all international languages for application run-time?

Yes, all languages are supported. Note though that language texts have to be defined as part of the application development process, i.e. Xi makes no attempt to do a run-time language translation.

Does it handle international settings like date and number format?

Yes, fully supported. Xi will detect a user’s international type from their browser settings and will automatically render an application using the right formats.

Is the Xi Designer available in languages other than English? No, English only.

W3C Accessibility

What does Xi do to help developers meet the WAI accessibility guidelines?

Xi applications are automatically rendered to meet the requirements for a WAI AAA accessibility rating.

Extensibility

Can I design and plug in my own controls?

No, not in V5, but planned for a later release. Take a look at the roadmap FAQ for more information.

Is there a library of controls I can access?

Xi ships with a ready-made palette of controls for a variety of functions. Later plans will enable developers to create their own Xi controls.

FPL, Xi’s language, can I extend it with my own functions?

Yes, via Custom Functions or Custom Resources. Both of these are JAVA-developed extensions that work against an API shipped with an Xi SDK.

Is there support for calling Java?

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Roadmap

What's planned for Xi and when?

Current version is 5, released November 2015. V5 introduced:

 Improved version control and team working

 One click deployment of new applications

 Improved project organisation

 An active data dictionary, enabling code-assist type features, design-time code parsing, tight coupling and referential integrity, object usage search and reference.

Next major version will be V5.1, outline details to be published soon.

Support

How is Xi supported?

You can include fix packs and new releases by buying the maintenance option (20% of your licence price per annum, Community Edition free) with your licence.

We offer a range of support packages (Platform, Premier and Platinum) to help every customer from those who are just starting out to those with large, mission critical installations. Ebase Xi users can also register on the Ebase Technical Forum and Customer Portal to access additional support channels.

Training

What courses are there for Xi?

Various, ranging from a getting started 3-day fundamentals to more specific courses dealing with topics like security, workflow and complex data integration.

Courses can be classroom-based and instructor led or delivered online using virtual classroom technology.

How much do they cost?

It will vary from country to country but, for example, in the UK we charge £1,200 per training day for an on-site class of up to 8 people.

The online courses work out at about £450 per day for customers but the modules tend to be delivered as 2-hour chunks over the course of a couple of weeks.

Training for partners tends to be heavily discounted. We can’t afford to pay for training, how do we proceed?

The training courses are all downloadable from the web site, so try that. Also, you can use the Resource Centre, and forum areas to ask other people for help. If you get stuck you can buy web-based support – have a look at the Support FAQ.

Partners

Does Ebase have a partner program?

Yes, two types of Partner: Development Partner and Distributor. Development Partners are accredited Xi users who typically create applications or products using Xi. Distributors are Ebase resellers in one or more geographies and provide local support, training and consultancy.

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Are there Ebase partners in my area?

Take a look at the Partners page on the web site. How do I become an Ebase partner?

Talk to us.

Why would I bother to join Ebase’s partner program?

We will list you on our web site, pass you leads, work on joint marketing initiatives with you, and so on. You get an inside track on the Xi software and free attendance to Ebase partner events and product seminars. Also, the partner accreditation training program is a very cost effective way to get up to speed with Xi asap.

Also, Distributors can buy Xi licenses and support packages at a discount so make a margin when they re-sell. They can also offer professional services packages for their local market, such as consulting days, hosting, training courses, and account management.