WebSphere Revolution

An Eye Toward the Future IBM WebSphere was born in a whirlwind of change and it has continued to evolve and prosper in a dynamic world. What started as a single product back in 1998 has become a diverse suite of offerings that can be used as SOA building blocks to create the most robust and flexible IT infrastructures available today. WebSphere is vital to IBM’s software business and has been widely adopted by businesses all around the world. But what of WebSphere’s future where is WebSphere heading? We can foresee some changes based on current conditions and trends while other forces of change will surely take us all by surprise. As for what we can foresee today, the key word is change but not in the traditional sense. In the past, the goal of change has often been centered on a singular improvement to a particular business process doing something faster or more efficiently. While such changes will always be valuable, it will no longer be sufficient to applaud the implementation of a more efficient business process unless that implementation has been designed—up front—to easily accommodate additional change. It is this ever increasing ability to change this agility that will be paramount to business success and enable business transformation in the future. As Tom Rosamilia, General Manager, IBM Application & Integration Middleware, puts it, “Build for change design for change because change is going to happen so be prepared for it.” The way IBM sees it, SOA is the vehicle that will deliver the needed business agility and WebSphere is the centerpiece of SOA. So WebSphere and SOA will continue to evolve hand in hand and there will be an increasing focus on the business side of the equation. As Sandy Carter explains, “The next wave the next generation will all be around the business side not just SOA but business solutions that are powered by SOA.” There are also many fascinating technologies on the horizon which will no doubt help shape the future of WebSphere, such as virtualization technology. While IBM has been using virtualization for years (memory, disk storage, etc.), the concept is increasingly being extended to whole systems or clusters of systems, escalating the benefits of scalability, reliability, software as a service, and computing as a utility. Virtualization is also a key part of IBM’s “Green IT” strategy WebSphere sMash Web 2.0 represents the next generation in Web technology and business. WebSphere has embraced Web 2.0 with new, dynamic, lightweight solutions that bring greater flexibility and agility to businesses. WebSphere sMash is a perfect example of such a solution aimed to help businesses stay responsive and react quickly to ever-changing needs. WebSphere sMash is an integrated runtime and development environment for building “situational applications” or applications designed for a niche audience or temporary time frame. And IBM is breaking its own mold with WebSphere sMash by creating an open development community of developers and assets that build on the WebSphere sMash platform. The collective efforts of many appropriately power this new Web 2.0 solution. More on the Web More on the Web • WebSphere Virtual Enterprise • Going green with Smart SOA • Custom application development & systems integration 51 • WebSphere sMash http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/smash/ http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/extend/virtualenterprise/ http://www-01.ibm.com/software/solutions/soa/green/ http://www.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/app/html/gbs_app_custom_appdev_sysinteg.html?cm_re=masthead-_-business-_-apps-appdev

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of WebSphere Revolution

WebSphere Revolution Table of Contents The Rise of Internet Business WebSphere Takes the Stage WebSphere Application Server Evolves Beyond the Application Server WebSphere and On Demand Business New Flexibility through SOA An Eye Toward the Future

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