What does the RIA (Rich Internet Applications) picture look like, and what can we expect to happen over the coming years in Web development to complement or supersede Ajax? How will the next generation of graphical user interface technologies shape up and what role will they play in Web development?

Ajax, popularized by Google (Gmail and Google Maps), Yahoo (Flickr), and Amazon (A9 Search) give Web apps a desktop experience. However, businesses want to understand what the applicability is to the bottom line. A comparison between a traditional Web application and an Ajax one shows that dramatic quantifiable cost savings can be measured when looking at specific application metrics.