Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology in the world of Web 2.0 has increased dependency on continuous access to the grid. However even today, we are not always connected. A sales exec becomes highly challenged when he is unable to access his client information on salesforce.com.

So, offline access creates an additional layer of reliability, extends the reach of web applications, and improves application performance by moving important data closer to its users.

The two key components for disconnected operation are the maturing browser-based local storage technologies and elegant synchronization solutions. Various offline products and toolkits are available to support numerous programming languages and web frameworks.