Despite the overwhelming popularity

Despite the overwhelming popularity of web-based distri-buted systems, in certain areas the traditional desktop applications still seem to be a better choice. In this paper we examine the challenges involved in developing a secure and fault-tolerant data persistence layer for distributed desktop applications. We analyse the currently existing persistence frameworks and show why they do not meet the requirements set by certain distributed applications. The body of this paper concentrates on the Offline Business Objects framework which aims to fill this gap. The framework introduces the offline operation paradigm, whereby client applications operate without a permanent server connection and only periodically synchronise their data with the central database. We successfully deployed a distributed information system based on this paradigm and the Offline Business Objects for five major cities in Poland, which confirmed the practical value of our approach.