Where IBM and Lotus Are Heading

     

The future direction for IBM and Lotus will be to address the changes in the needs of many corporations, from basic Web hosting to new services that would include collaboration and on demand capacity. The continuing enhancements to WebSphere Portal are particularly interesting in this context. Over the past couple of years , the Lotus range has expanded to embrace technologies such as instant messaging and chat; in effect, IBM has recognized that these new technologies of presence offer the possibility of incremental collaboration. The use of WebSphere and Domino together and use of the improving WebSphere Portal is the payoff. The WebSphere Portal incorporates the Lotus-derived Collaboration Center, which offers "portlets" integrated with Lotus technology for messaging and team workplaces. Lotus technology has long carried the stigma of its products being for smaller companies (e.g., the 1,000-seat-at-a-time per server imposed solution). Including Lotus Collaboration under the WebSphere cover could be an excellent way to shed this image and introduce the WebSphere community to the joys of collaboration.

With the Lotus group embracing DB2 and J2EE, most of the recent traffic between the Lotus and WebSphere communities has been one-way. Now the WebSphere technologists might have something to learn from the fuzzy logic of the collaborative world.

On Demand Business

One major buzz phrase of 2003 and 2004 was "On Demand Business." The range that this phrase covers is gradually becoming clear. The on demand era isn't about trading goods and services over the Web. On Demand Business is a set of Web-based strategies for increasing efficiency and driving down costs internally, as well as in an organization's dealings with its partners .

On Demand Business is an ambitious program, embracing everything from hardware to business consultancy. For a services company, On Demand Business is about rapid and, as far as possible, automated application development. IBM wants to sell this approach to the world at-large, including Windows users. For a software company, On Demand Business means component-based systems, easy to assemble and reconfigure, and portal-based hybrids ”in practical terms, with the horsepower of WebSphere and the flexibility of Domino. For a hardware company, On Demand Business means transparent end-to-end integration of the type promised by autonomic computing. IBM's CEO, Sam Palmisano, defined an on demand company as "an enterprise whose business processes ”integrated end-to-end across the company and with key suppliers and customers ”can respond with speed to any customer demand, market opportunity, or external threat." He also said that "it is not about gizmos and gadgets, but business processes and people...It's about eliminating the gaps and seams and spaces." So On Demand is a strategy for all departments of IBM ”and all parts of IBM's user base. Any business can implement at least part of the On Demand Business vision and take steps toward implementing it more fully. WebSphere together with Domino are key platforms for On Demand Business.

The role of the portal server is continuing to take on more and more importance. Enterprise portals that present Web-enabled applications alongside collaborative workspaces, search facilities, e-mail, and news are a familiar concept. International Data Corporation (IDC) had divided portals into four groups: the basic enterprise information portal (EIP), the groupware-enabled enterprise collaborative portal (ECP), the personalized enterprise expertise portal (EEP), and the enterprise knowledge portal (EKP), which incorporates knowledge management technology. Portals have been around for a long time but have never quite lived up to the early hype. Now, however, with IBM and BEA both firmly behind the technology, there seems little doubt that we'll all soon be speaking the language of portlets and e-workplaces. After several years, portals are finally going to make it big.

But why now? One answer is that it's taken until now for people to realize what a great idea they are. Portals were discredited by the early implementations, because they gobbled up screen area for little benefit (how often do you need a weather forecast?). Later, less flashy implementations delivered more tangible benefits: always-on access to key applications, e-mail, chat, and a browser. People have caught on, and now portals are going to be big. However, there's more to the story.

A more complete explanation is that the portal is the logical next step for IBM and other companies providing solutions for Web sites. These companies have already provided a J2EE application server, in-depth support for XML, and application integration tools. The offerings themselves sharpen the need for portal services. Server-side Java means assembling applications from reusable interoperable objects, XML and Web services making it possible to combine remote and local components , and legacy integration promising to open a whole new range of data sources. Applications built under these conditions will be significantly more open to extension and customization than the ones most of us are used to. Portals mirror this flexibility on the client side, offering users a personalized combination of application components and data sources.

The similarity isn't coincidental. Portals are built on the same open standards used by application servers. Using WebSphere Portal Server, you can either plug in an application with a Web service interface as a remote portlet or bind it to an existing portlet, for example, to return information from an Internet search to a local application.

Benefits of the Portal Model

IBM's overall software strategy favors portal development. The company has grouped its software under four key middleware brands: WebSphere, DB2, Tivoli, and Lotus Domino. IBM will continue to integrate the four more closely. The portal model demonstrates the benefits of this approach, yoking the WebSphere platform to Tivoli system management tools and a range of Lotus collaboration and knowledge management technologies, including QuickPlace, Sametime, and Lotus Extended Search.

WebSphere covers a lot of ground. Across the four eServer platforms, there are at least 10 current versions of the WebSphere Application Server, including Linux versions for xSeries and zSeries. As for the broader WebSphere product range, IBM's WebSphere Developer Domain Products Page ( http://www7b.boulder.ibm.com/wsdd/products ) introduces you to WebSphere Portal Server, WebSphere Voice Toolkit, WebSphere Host Integration, WebSphere Host On Demand ”and more.

IBM explains this profusion of WebSphere products in this way: "The WebSphere software platform for e-business consists of a Foundation, Foundation Extensions, and Application Accelerators." The core of the foundation layer is the WebSphere Application Server (in its two main editions, Advanced and Enterprise). Also in the foundation layer is WebSphere MQ. This isn't the MQSeries messaging middleware but a whole family of messaging products, including products such as the WebSphere MQ Integrator (an "information broker" offering intelligent message routing and information flow modeling).

The foundation extensions are a range of software packages for building WebSphere applications (development), making them look good (presentation), and keeping them running (deployment). Development extensions include WebSphere Studio and WebSphere Business Components (of which there are many). Presentation extensions include WebSphere Voice Server and WebSphere Everyplace Suite. Then there are the deployment extensions; these include WebSphere Site Analyzer and WebSphere Host Integration.

At the top level are the application accelerators: tools and templates for application development. This group includes products such as WebSphere Commerce Suite (in four editions: Start, Pro, MarketPlace, and Service Provider) and WebSphere MQ Workflow, which offers message-based automation of business processes. The Crossworlds Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) toolset, acquired by IBM in 2002, was transformed into a WebSphere application accelerator under the WebSphere umbrella of "Business Integration Accelerators."

The WebSphere Approach

There are overlaps and some gray areas in the WebSphere architecture, and it's not always clear how it maps to actual commercial products. What's more significant is the overall approach that it represents. First, IBM is determined to cover all the bases. Consequently, the WebSphere range is not so much a suite but more the raw materials for a huge range of potential, user-designed suites.

Second, IBM clearly wants to ensure that the product line stays current. With mobile e-commerce in its infancy and B2B e-business struggling, the company is unlikely to make it big in the short term out of the WebSphere Business Integrator ("provides a complete and consistent model for both EAI and B2B integration") or the WebSphere Transcoding Publisher ("adapts, reformats, and filters content...giving companies better access to customers, business partners, and mobile employees "). Nevertheless, if and when e-commerce and the B2B model start to deliver on their early promise, IBM and the WebSphere brand will be there.

The third and perhaps the most significant point follows from the first two. While we might tend to concentrate on the WebSphere application server, WebSphere is also a brand ”indeed, it's now regarded as one of IBM Software's four main brands, alongside DB2 and the two great acquisitions, Lotus and Tivoli. At the core of WebSphere is a strong product, but the strength of the product does not necessarily transfer to the brand. If anything, the uniformity of the WebSphere branding draws attention to the diversity of the products underneath. However, when WebSphere is combined with the collaboration strengths of Lotus and the convenience of portals, most companies will have the platforms they need for all their Web server needs.



IBM WebSphere and Lotus Implementing Collaborative Solutions
IBM(R) WebSphere(R) and Lotus: Implementing Collaborative Solutions
ISBN: 0131443305
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 169

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net