From Application Servers to E-business Platforms

J2EE, .Net and Web Services
531 pages, French publication November 2001

Application servers are currently experiencing an unprecedented success and their applications are multiplying in numerous businesses. They make up the foundation of the opening up of information systems with respect to the world external to the company.

The multiplication of the trade channels towards the exterior always implies an increasing use of application servers for the platforms of on-line trading, portals and supply applications. Applications servers are upsetting the established positions in these marked by lowering the entry barriers.

Moreover, application server software publishers benefit from their position as leaders in this market to conquer related markets, a source of higher revenues. After portals and on-line trade platforms, EIA is now being affected, and is starting to integrate application server technologies. The large editors develop their E-Business platforms on application servers, which are now found throughout all IT domains. Even the publishers of integrated software packages create new versions of their software packages to run on application servers. Company IT managers can no longer ingore application servers, and must understand the risks and implementations problems associated with them.

The objectives of the study:

• Which are technologies for application servers?
• What is the structure of the market for application servers and related markets?
• What are the strategies of the players in the market?
• Whar is the impact of application servers on portals and EAI solutions?
• How are specialised software publishers positioning themselves in relation to the E-Business?
• What will be the impact of Web services on the E-Business platforms?
• What are the deployment problems with E-Business platforms, and the traps to be avoided?

Methodology:

This study is based on:

• Numerous interviews with the directors of the most important companies publishing e-Business plarforms regarding their strategies
• A thorough analysis of the impact of application server technologies on portals and application integration solutions, based on numerous dicussions with system integrates and specialized software publishers in these domains
• A technological survey carried out four years by the author of the study with respect to middleware and associated tools, including a follow-up on the work of the technology standards organizations for application servers
• The unique experience of AlphaCSP, a specialist in the creation and administration of J2EE applications. AlphaCSP joined SOFTEAM on January 1, 2003.
• The feedback on experiences of companies that have put e-Business platforms based on application servers into production

The author:

Jean-François MASLER is a qualified engineer of one of the Parisian "grandes écoles", and an independent consultant. He has followed the emergence of application servers and their explosion onto the market. He has been writing articles on application servers, portals and EAI for 4 years, in particular for "01 Réseaux" and "Professional Internet".

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