Microsoft will continue to dominate the small- and midsize-business markets, Gartner says, while Java will dominate in large enterprises. As a result, neither Microsoft nor Java will emerge as the dominant force in Web services implementations. New products ensure interoperability between the systems, and we expect to see Microsoft taken to task handily by independent software vendors and customers alike if its tendency to "embrace and extend" standards interferes with interoperability between Java and .Net.
Still, .Net will remain a clear winner in critical business apps in the midsize-business market, as CRM providers continue to adopt the technology with amazing speed. Portfolio-management products are also rapidly adopting .Net; this will push adoption of the platform into larger enterprises. Be prepared to manage both.
Long Arm of the Law
The U.S. Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002 (aka Sarbanes-Oxley) will require investments in several areas in the next year for businesses to achieve compliance. Some of the budgetary expenses should be borne by the organization--for example, increases in auditing fees and additional insurance costs--but some are unique to IT and will suck up a significant portion of your budget. Internal process documentation is likely to require an average of $1 million to complete, according to Gartner. Achieving compliance will entail new development efforts or the purchase of packaged systems, especially for e-mail and records management.
In an AMR Research survey, 85 percent of 60 Fortune 1,000 companies surveyed said they plan to modify their IT systems to support the compliance process. Although some products exist to automate compliance, these solutions are unlikely to be a panacea because they're narrowly focused on specific sections of the act, not on full compliance. Concur Technologies and Oracle, for example, have offerings to ensure compliance with Section 404, which requires that CEOs and CFOs certify the financial-control procedures used by their companies are effective. Nth Orbit offers a product to aid in developing the necessary internal compliance processes, but it comes with a hefty price tag: $100,000 and up.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
