Over the last several months, news has been drifting out of Microsoft about a project that will dramatically change the software giant's e-business solutions. The project, which bears the code name Jupiter, will create an e-business platform that could be attractive to many companies, particularly small and medium-size businesses. In the process, Jupiter could challenge Java-based alternatives from Microsoft's competitors, including IBM and its WebSphere franchise.
To a great extent, Jupiter is Microsoft's response to the challenges that today's e-business software poses to companies with limited IT resources. For such companies, most e-business software is overly complex and requires skills that they do not possess. Much of this complexity is due to the fact that individual e-business products--even those from the same vendor--require different skill sets. For instance, companies often must use one set of development tools for Web application servers, another set of tools for portal servers, yet another set for e-commerce applications, and so forth.
In addition, e-business software products vary widely in their support for industry standards. Even when they do support the same standards, their implementations of those standards can vary in significant ways. This creates further complexity when companies attempt to integrate e-business applications with legacy systems and with each other. Such complexity makes it difficult to integrate business processes across an enterprise, much less integrate processes that involve suppliers and other business partners.
In response to these problems, Microsoft wants to do for e-business software what it did a decade ago for office productivity applications. Just as it entered a market filled with standalone desktop applications and took it by storm with an integrated suite--Microsoft Office--it now intends to transform an e-business software market filled with similar standalone solutions.
The Elements of Jupiter
While Microsoft wants Jupiter to become the Office of e-business software, it realizes that it will take several years and at least two to three versions to make the new suite comparable to its desktop predecessor. As such, Jupiter is both a product and a long-term strategy to integrate key technologies from numerous Microsoft products. These technologies will include the following:
-
A single development environment--One of Jupiter's main design points will be the ability to create all types of e-business solutions--including commerce, portal, and content presentation applications--via a consistent development environment. Naturally, Microsoft's Visual Studio suite of development tools will fulfill this role. Within Jupiter, the two Visual Studio tools that will likely play the most prominent roles will be Visual Studio .NET 2003 and Visual Studio Tools for Office. While the former product is already shipping, the latter tool is currently available in a beta version for download.
-
A single runtime environment for all e-business applications--As developers write applications for Jupiter, they will--at least in theory--be able to deploy them to a single runtime environment. To achieve this, Microsoft intends to integrate the runtime components from its Commerce Server, SharePoint Portal Server, and Content Management Server products onto the Jupiter platform. This would allow users to deploy and seamlessly manage a wide variety of e-business applications through a consistent set of interfaces. These interfaces would provide a single set of services for content management, catalog management, personalization, and Web site management across all applications.
While Jupiter will act as a convergence point for Commerce Server, SharePoint Portal Server, and Content Management Server, it is unlikely that Microsoft will discontinue these products. Just as the software giant continues to sell individual Office products, so it will continue to offer its server products on a standalone basis.
-
An integration engine for applications and business processes--Microsoft wants to position Jupiter as the preeminent platform for Web-enabling legacy applications and integrating business processes that involve both employees and automated systems. To deliver these functions, Microsoft will make BizTalk Server 2004, which the vendor intends to ship in the fourth quarter of this year, a core component of Jupiter. The application integration product includes improvements in the areas of business process workflow management, support for XML Web services, and integration with Microsoft Office and Visual Studio .NET.
-
Integration with Office applications--Naturally, Microsoft wants companies to use Office applications as the interfaces of choice to Web applications built on Jupiter. To encourage such choices, Microsoft is already developing linkages between the products in Jupiter and Office 2003, the next version of the desktop suite, which will likely ship in the fourth quarter of this year. Office 2003 features XML Web services that will link Office applications with each other and with Windows server products, including those slated for inclusion in Jupiter.
Clearly, Microsoft's plans for Jupiter are ambitious ones. However, does the company have the right stuff to make its latest brainchild a giant among e-business platforms? I'll tell you what I think next week, when I discuss Microsoft's strategy at greater length and assess what Jupiter could mean for mid-market customers and the IT vendors who serve them.
Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online