Once in a while something comes along which causes a fundamental shift in the wider mindset. For a long time, we have understood, from a technology perspective, that object orientation (OO) is a key technology to allow enterprises to move into the new world, that of the information age, the Internet, electronic commerce and pervasive computing.
Object orientation (OO) is a key technology to allow enterprises to move into the new world.
It has been clear that there is a very close mapping between the way that organisations are going and the inherent structure, behaviour and approach of OO. It has also been clear that without the capabilities of OO it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to deliver what is required to be successful on the Internet.
The problem with all of this insight was that it is still difficult to interest business people in techno talk. Then along came Java and changed all of that. I am amazed at how much of this Java thing has found its way into the senior ranks of the organisation and how Java has popularised the notion of a completely new development approach. I doubt whether anyone out there still thinks of Java as a coffee. It is universally seen as the language of the Internet, and more. Long live Java!
In this Java-enabled enterprise of the future, customers, suppliers, partners and employees, see one seamless electronic environment. The only way in which it looks different is based on the access rights of the individual and what they are doing at the time.
Each user is authenticated and based on their profiles they are allowed to operate within and across the firewalls as appropriate. This includes not only the applications and intranets of the enterprise or anyone else in the virtual network but also the public Internet. Anyone can use both their personal information and corporate data seamlessly, wherever they may be.
The reality of the business domain is that it is fast moving and continually changing: it is increasingly more fractal, it becomes more complex as the organisation`s value chain extends to include many organisational and individual elements that are not part of the enterprise. Finally, the enterprise has increasingly less control of the multitude of platforms and environments in which the business functions of the enterprise will have to operate.
There is a direct correlation between the business structure and dynamics and that of a component, OO-way of delivering systems. The OO, and in particular Java, environment and approach provide significant independence from all the different platforms and environments in which applications will need to work from time to time and provide the ability for the continuous deployment of applications which can be increasingly granular, allowing business functionality to be rolled out much more quickly and more continuously.
There is nothing trivial about operating in this new world, not at a business or technology level. Underlying the exciting and challenging initiatives in the business domain are complex business and process planning and design approaches; although things are fast moving it is not anarchical.
This is as true for the technology delivery. Underpinning this fast-moving systems delivery capability is a sound architecture. Robust servers with high-bandwidth interconnections will be deployed to support thin clients - clients that will download applets as needed, leaving demanding computation and storage to the servers.
Applications are being designed and developed with the nomadic user in mind and to build in location independence for users. Application architectures are designed to maximise server processing and to ensure the highest degree of platform independence and flexible deployment structures and taking advantage of the infrastructure of the Internet.
Furthermore it is crucial that all of this new stuff is integrated into what is in the organisation today (usually referred to as the legacy systems). This is not about redeveloping what is already working, but is very much about developing the systems without which businesses will not thrive in the next few years.
Many enterprises are grappling with whether to embrace these new technologies and approaches: I don`t see that it is optional. Many of the demands of the business will force the enterprise into this new world of the Internet, e-commerce, e-relationships, e-business; in fact e-everything.
Many of the new business systems will demand the characteristics I have highlighted and will by definition have to embrace this new way of development and deployment. The enterprise can go there willingly, even enthusiastically, or it can find itself out in the cold, particularly in the face of the global leaders and where they have already taken this!
Aletha writes for ITWeb in her personal capacity.
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