The journey to a fully autonomic IT infrastructure is one of evolution. That journey has now begun. As the technology evolves and matures, new standards will become apparent and will need to be developed. It is a requirement for success that all interested parties participate in the development process. Such parties include the following:
Independent software vendors (ISVs)— The software companies, large and small, that must adopt and implement the standards for their products and services.
Corporate users— The eventual users of the standards now have a chance to guide and recommend features, functionality, and requirements. Their view from the trenches is important to gain the real worldview.
Standards organizations— As new standards organizations are formed and existing standards bodies adapt to the new requirements, they have much to offer the development process in terms of knowledge of management and implementation of standards.
Individuals— There is a place for anyone who has an interest and can contribute to the process of standards development. Most standards organizations place their documents on the Internet, so specifications are available for all to review.
Global users— The final and perhaps most important requirement is that open standards development must not take place in a regional context—for example just in the United States. Global requirements are needed if the true implementation of open standards is to be applied. Open must mean global.
It is up to all of us in IT to be involved in this process. At the heart of the matter is the need to bring together minds from multiple technical and scientific disciplines, as well as different businesses and institutions, to share a sense of urgency and purpose. Although IBM is determined to take on this challenge, one company cannot do it alone.
The age of proprietary solutions is almost over. The key issues moving forward are as follows: How can we design and support open standards that will work? New methods will be needed to equip our systems to deal with changing environments and transactions. How will we create and develop new standards to take previous system experience and use that information to improve the rules?
