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Instant Insight February 10, 2003 |
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IBM Web Services Platform Positions It
in the Vanguard IBM has announced its DB2 Integrator Series that
includes Integrator 8.1 and Integrator 8.2 for providing access to data and
content from disparate enterprise applications. These products are intended
to help customers access, integrate, and analyze all forms of information
contained in sources situated across and beyond the enterprise. Specifically,
IBM states Integrator can move information “on demand” from single subject
databases to an integrated information infrastructure. Additionally, IBM
states that its approach complements the consolidation of data for local
access, and asserts it has developed a new way of interacting with data
called “integrated access to distributed sources.” Key features of these
products include: ▫
Ability
for an enterprise to reduce the need to move its data or replace its current
IT infrastructure; ▫
Decreased
time required to complete business integration projects ; ▫
Increased
developer productivity in integration projects; ▫
Ability
to access and read/write diverse data located in diverse content sources; ▫
Enhancement
of the query optimizer technology that seeks to reduce IT staff burden of
tuning distributed queries; ▫
Ability
to cache and replicate across and between heterogeneous information; ▫ Ability to integrate disparate data and content via integrated views. Pricing/Availability The DB2 Information Integrator and DB2 Information
Integrator for Content are currently available in beta form for customers and
partners. Final pricing and availability were not announced. Net/Net Although the numbering scheme would imply that these
are evolutionary enhancements to the existing product, we believe that this
offering represents an inflection point for IBM and, possibly, the IT
software industry. It seems clear that IBM is continuing its drive towards
Web Services. Heretofore, Web Services have provided a standard method to do
what existed in Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) software by
providing a standard for inter-application communication and sharing of
information. Although IBM says that connector companies such as I2 will
continue to create value for the enterprise, we believe this announcement
opens the door to a new view of enterprise connectivity. Instead of viewing applications such as ERP as a
source of data for a collaborative SCM system, IBM’s approach effectively
asserts that each application (or for that matter each function of an
application) is a potential node of an enterprise application system. We
think this approach may redefine the enterprise application market to the
benefit of enterprise software consumers and perhaps a new cadre of
application developers. Siebel, for instance, perceives the potential with
IBM to create what it calls blended CRM applications. These make it possible
to link custom-developed applications with standard applications. But we
think IBM goes further, allowing buyers of software to potentially pull apart
bundled applications including those that are part of large CRM and ERP
installations to select best of breed components to create a unique
application set. This means, for instance, that users would be able to buy
eSales applications from Siebel and eSupport modules from PeopleSoft. We
believe this would create two new classes of applications that we call Micro
and Macro Applications: both have the potential to extend what now lives in
the databases of existing applications. These “dataless” applications would
use data from existing applications to perform new business functions. It is
envisioned that Micro applications could extend the functionality of an
application or connect several applications. For example, a service level
agreement application could both use and share information with CRM systems.
Macro applications will create a composite customer record that can be used
by electronic support, marketing, sales, and order entry systems. We expect BEA will follow IBM’s lead in providing
support for these new application types. Moreover, given the increasing
importance of the application server and the ability for IBM to sell off its
position DB2, we would not be surprised if Oracle finds IBM’s moves would
make BEA a very attractive acquisition. Overall, we believe IBM’s announcement creates a new view of Web Services, which will force developers and enterprises alike to rethink what lives in specific applications and where and how they can leverage the rest of an enterprise IT ecosystem. With this announcement, IBM has placed itself in the vanguard of next generation application software infrastructure. Further, existing application vendors, especially the vendors of large, integrated enterprise applications, must prepare themselves for the shifting sands of change and anticipate the effect on their bottom line lest they be left with a business focused on a dwindling existing customer base. |