Inline compression of a network communication within an enterprise planning environment

1. An enterprise planning system comprising:

a database configured to store data defining a set of contributors, a set of analysts, and a multi-level model of an organization, wherein the multi-level model has a plurality of hierarchically arranged nodes, each node corresponding to at least one of the contributors;

a server to execute an enterprise planning session for the set of contributors in accordance with the multi-level model;

a web browser executing on a remote computing device of one of the contributors to communicate contribution data between the remote computing device and the server; and

an inline compression module executing on the remote computing device to automatically compress outbound communications from the web browser to the server by intercepting outgoing buffers of the outbound communications transmitted from the web browser and automatically compressing the buffers, and to automatically decompress inbound communications received from the server and forward the decompressed inbound communications to the web browser,

wherein the server executes the enterprise planning session by:

capturing the contribution data from the web browser and the inline compression module of the remote computing device,

capturing target data from the analysts,

selecting a subset of the contributors based on a current level of the planning session with respect to the multi-level model,

selectively presenting the captured contribution data and the target data to the selected subset of the contributors,

incrementing the current level when all of the contributors associated with nodes of the current level accept the contribution data,

decrementing the current level when at least one of the contributors associated with the nodes of the current level rejects the contribution data and generating a report based on the contribution data when the current level reaches pre-defined level within the multi-level model.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inline compression module intercepts hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) buffers produced by the web browser, and automatically compresses the buffers prior to transmission to the server via the HTTP protocol.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inline compression module:

intercepts inbound buffers transmitted by the server;

determines whether the inbound buffers are compressed;

automatically decompresses the buffers based on the determination; and

forwards the decompressed buffers to the web browser executing on the remote computing device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein each buffer includes a header indicating whether the buffer is compressed.

5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising business logic software modules executing on the server to process the contribution data received from the web browser, wherein the server presents a web page to receive inbound compressed communications from the web browser, and direct the inbound compressed communications to the business logic software modules executing on the server for decompression and processing.

6. A method comprising:

executing an enterprise planning session for a set of enterprise contributors on a server in accordance with an enterprise model, wherein the enterprise model defines hierarchically arranged nodes and associates the contributors with the nodes, wherein executing the enterprise planning session, includes:

(i) capturing forecast data from the set of contributors according to the enterprise model;

(ii) capturing target data from a set of analysts;

(iii) performing, with the server, a reconciliation process to reconcile the target data and the forecast data in accordance with the enterprise model by:

(a) selecting one or more of the contributors associated with a current level of the enterprise model,

(b) presenting the target data and the forecast data to the selected contributors,

(c) receiving, with the server, review information from remote computing devices of the selected contributors, wherein the review information indicates whether the selected contributors accept or reject the forecast data in view of the captured target data, and wherein the server receives the review information from inline compression modules on the remote computing devices that automatically compress outbound communications from the web browsers on the remote computing devices by intercepting outgoing buffers of the outbound communications transmitted from web browsers and automatically compressing the buffers,

(d) automatically updating the current level with the server based upon the review information

(e) receiving with the server, updated forecast data based on the updated current level, when at least one of the selected contributors rejects the forecast data, wherein the server receives the review information from the inline compression modules on the remote computing devices,

(f) repeating the reconciliation process until the current level reaches a pre-defined level of the enterprise model and the review information indicates that the selected contributors associated with the pre-defined level accept the forecast data, and

(iv) after the reconciliation process, generating a report based on the forecast data.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

automatically decompressing inbound communication received from the server using the inline compression modules; and

forwarding the decompressed inbound communications to the web browsers.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein intercepting comprises:

intercepting hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) buffers produced by the web browsers; and

automatically compressing the buffers prior to transmission to the server via the HTTP protocol.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

intercepting, with the inline compression modules, inbound buffers transmitted by the server;

determining whether the inbound buffers are compressed;

automatically decompressing the buffers based on the determination; and

forwarding the decompressed buffers from the inline compression modules to the web browsers executing on the remote computing devices.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining whether the inbound buffers are compressed includes examining a header within each of the buffers.

11. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

presenting a web page to receive the compressed communications from the remote computing devices, and

directing the compressed communications from the remote computing devices to business logic software modules executing on the server for decompression and processing.