 |
|
DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / SEPTEMBER 15, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 37
|
Special Features:
GRID EFFECT ACCELERATING CHANGES
IN BUSINESS, TECHNOLOGY
The network is exercising a powerful effect on businesses, making possible
computing power that can be sold as a utility, networks that organize
themselves and business processes that reach out to trading partners,
according to a new report from Computer Sciences Corporation released called
The Architecture rEvolution: Exploring the Network Effect on Infrastructure,
Applications and Business Process.
The network effect fundamentally alters the way business is conducted as
companies consider their operations to be integrated with the network rather
than merely enabled by it. The growth in networked business and the underlying
technology that drives it, the report says, is nothing short of an information
technology (IT) architecture "rEvolution" -- evolutionary because it's based
on Internet protocols and other existing technology, and revolutionary because
it's creating dramatically new ways to operate businesses.
While business and IT executives are frequently exposed to information
about
networked business, they often lack a big-picture view that encompasses all of
the trends created by the network effect. The Architecture rEvolution
aggregates information from many sources, including CSC experts and clients
worldwide, industry analysts and product manufacturers, with emphasis on
every-day, real-world experiences. The report examines the rEvolution's impact
on three areas: infrastructure, applications and business process.
"Architecture rEvolution is a primer of important new IT architecture
technologies and trends," said Bill Koff, vice president of CSC's Leading Edge
Forum (LEF), which produced the report. "Readers will discover what's
currently happening in networked business and what's about to happen -- and
learn what they must do to capitalize on the changes."
The report maintains that as network speeds increase and more people use
them,
networks are becoming more powerful, and the network effect compounds the ways
that organizations, people and devices can be linked. "The results are
potent," said Paul Gustafson, director of the LEF. "With the network effect,
the whole is significantly greater than the sum of the parts."
The network effect on infrastructure such as storage, computing power and
networks means that those resources are beginning to resemble utilities,
according to the report. Rather than investing in computers and storage,
companies will buy computing and storage capacity on a per-use basis, much as
a consumer would use electricity. In a utility model, the infrastructure
capacity is always at hand for use. This model will become increasingly
important to businesses as they try to increase their agility while lowering
software and maintenance costs, the report says.
Storage, computing power and networks are becoming increasingly distributed
and businesses should expect to see the commercial growth of new forms of
networked computing, including peer-to-peer computing, Grid computing and
self-organizing networks. Such architectures will bring many benefits,
including increased power and flexibility, but will require vigilant network
management.
As the network effect hits applications, the report says, software will
increasingly make the transition from packaged applications to services that
can be easily developed and accessed anywhere in the network. The network
effect will spur a shift to Web Services as a dominant application deployment
method, as well as a transformation of existing enterprise applications. The
focus on Web Services will also see a rise in Web Service security and
management to address gaps in the open Web Services architecture.
The network effect will permeate the entire IT architecture structure,
including the business processes layered on top. The report says that
technology is becoming increasingly aware of business processes, allowing
businesses to tie third parties into their operations directly over the
network. Such networked business structures allow companies to shift tasks
such as application and infrastructure management to an outside service
provider. The rEvolution will also see business processes increasingly moving
to the network, making complex connections with suppliers, partners and
customers possible at the business process level.
The Architecture rEvolution sums up a year of research and interviews by
CSC's
Leading Edge Forum. The LEF, comprised of leading technologists, provides a
CSC point of view on the technology marketplace and serves as a focal point
for stimulating technology thought leadership, innovation and collaboration.
The LEF bases its research primarily on experience with clients and focuses on
the practical use of technology, helping clients understand what will happen
in the near future and showing them how to benefit from change.
|