The Evaluator's Application Suite (EAS) relies on the BMO (Business Management Ontology) Server, which is implemented in two flavors. The local BMO Server is embedded in the EAS and manages storage and retrieval of information stored on local computer systems. The remote BMO Server runs on a central server and manages the Evaluation ontology.

The central Evaluation ontology is a repository which contains Evaluation Specifications that can be downloaded, as well as other data needed by the EAS. The Evaluation ontology has continuously grown in complexity and currently the number of classes (concepts) is in the three-digit range. In addition, it represents a layered ontology, meaning the Evaluation ontology represents a nested ontology with multiple nesting levels. 

To make it easy for the non-technical user to create and manage Evaluation Specifications, Request for Proposals (RFPs), RFP Responses, and Evaluations, all applications of the EAS feature an easy-to-use graphical user interface. If you did not know, you would not be aware of ontology technology being 'under the hood'.

Well, there is one thing. You will notice that it takes a couple of seconds to import, open or save an Evaluation Specification, RFP or other document. A typical Evaluation Specification is made up of a hierarchical document-like structure, and may contain more than 200 requirements. For example, on disk, an Evaluation Specification may take up more than 100 KB of disk space. On your local system, Evaluation Specifications and other objects are stored in files rather than in a database. 

Ontology technology offers so many benefits, which is why the EAS relies on it. The Semantic Web in Action - now!