PI System Management Tools (SMT) as a web application
Please consider creating a web application like PI Vision Admin, PI Web API Search, PI Manual Logger for Web, and the various integrators, but for PI System Managment Tools (SMT). I would prefer this to the client-server design now. It would make version management, software dependency management, upgrading, firewall/network-services management, etc. easier. This would obviate the need to re-package the OSIsoft installers in whatever software package management software an organization uses. Another solution would be to use the Windows 10 application store. However, that wouldn't mesh well with using Cloud IaaS services. OSIsoft could even offer this new SMT Web as a PaaS: gear, Juju charm, Docker container, Amazon image, whatever.
ADMIN RESPONSE
Aug 19, 2022
We are declining this item as we don't feel it's the right fit with our overall product strategy. Thank you for your feedback, and please continue sharing your thoughts on how we can better serve you.
With all the moving parts that comprise PI SMT it seems a very broad challenge to take them to a web platform. Besides being such a critical application to manage the PI System I do not see necessary to have a web client when we can easily access the tool from any server dedicated for this purpose. I think the effort required is very high for the added value to the platform.
In response to Jaime Olmo, PI System Management Tools currently doesn't have to be used from a PI Data Archive server. You can run it on other computers too. However, you still need to install it on every computer that uses it (e.g. on all of the computers of the PI administrators), since it is a client-side tool.
If PI System Management Tools were a web application, then you would only need to visit a web link and you would be able to access the PI System Management Tools web page hosted by the PI Data Archive computer. Only a single installation on the PI Data Archive computer would be needed.
We can see a similar idea in action when we compare the PI Interface Configuration Utility (PI ICU) to the PI Connector administration pages. The former must be installed everywhere that it is used, whereas the latter is accessible from any computer, as long as the security settings allow the connection.
I think that I misread Jaime Olmo's post the first time.
Having a dedicated server for PI System Management Tools to avoid installing and updating it on each client computer introduces the hassle of having to log into the server just to use PI System Management Tools and of setting up such a server in the first place. It is overkill.
As for the process of migrating PI System Management Tools to a web application, there is less to move over than you might think. A lot of the stuff that is available in PI System Management Tools is obsolete.
