WebSphere Revolution

The Rise of Internet Business Though the integration of the Internet into our daily lives is a relatively new phenomenon, it is already difficult to remember life without it. Today we can send messages around the world, research any topic, shop for shoes, pay bills, and view high-resolution satellite imagery of Mount Kilimanjaro all while in our pajamas. We can explore virtual worlds, attend online meetings, see through the eyes of the Hubble Telescope, read newspapers from around the globe, watch activities inside the International Space Station, download music, movies, TV shows, recipes, and lectures from top universities. Businesses can monitor the inventory levels of key partners in real time, execute just-in-time inventory purchases, bid on raw materials, share CAD drawings for critical parts, purchase energy from a global market and the list goes on. “Mosaic Web browser™” was introduced by the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). The Mosaic Web browser used the newly defined World Wide Web protocol to make accessing information over the Internet much easier. The graphical user interface provided by Mosaic and other popular Web browsers such as Netscape Navigator® was the spark that ignited a wildfire of interest in this “new thing” called the Internet. The public’s growing appetite for the Internet was further fueled by increasing bandwidth and the proliferation of more interesting Websites which continued to engage more and more people. By 1995, just two years after Mosaic was released, the number of Internet users had grown to an astonishing 16 million and then went on to absolutely explode, reaching 248 million by the end of the decade. Internet access had become ubiquitous and the “Internet frenzy” was on. During this period, IBM was in the process of redefining itself after going through the tumultuous period of declining mainframe sales revenues and splintering business units. Lou Gerstner had taken the reigns as IBM CEO in April 1993 and was in the process of re-integrating IBM’s separate operating More on the Web • History of the Internet at W3.org • History of the Internet at Internet World Stats.com But it wasn’t always like this In 1990, most people had never heard of the Internet. Though it had been used by the government, in academia, and by research groups for decades, the Internet had been ignored by the general public. Then in 1993, a program called the 1990 Most people have never heard of the Internet. 1990 The Hubble Space Telescope is launched. 1991 Gopher, the first userfriendly Internet interface, is introduced by the University of Minnesota. 1993 Mosaic Web browser is introduced. 1993 Lou Gerstner becomes IBM CEO. 1993 Steve Mills becomes the General Manager of IBM’s Software Solutions Division. NASA 7 http://www.w3.org/History.html http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm http://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm

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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.