Johannesburg, 02 Oct 1998
Comprehensive Information Infrastructure "Future Proofs" IT Investments By Unifying User Interfaces And Data Sources
The existing information infrastructure is currently a complex collection of heterogeneous clients, servers, databases and networks. This truly engenders information chaos, which is only getting more complex as technology progresses. The term "information chaos" implies that IT environments are intrinsically large and inherently complex.
There are many different databases and data sources, including object, relational, hierarchical, and even simple flat file systems. These are spread across mainframes, mid-range and desktop servers and even mobile computers. Applications are developed for terminal-based, client/server and Web-based paradigms, and each comes with its own networking considerations and user interface issues. This not just a technical or financial issue either. Information chaos is a cultural issue because staff maintains a large skills and training commitment to the systems they build and manage. These people and their systems make up the backbone of most organisations.
New information technology supplements rather than supplants its predecessors. Usually each new generation of technology is deployed to meet a new generation of business requirements. Since the old demands rarely diminish let alone vanish, old systems soldier on gradually achieving legacyhood. The upshot is that there is rarely a business case for entirely replacing large-scale systems. Like it or not, IT must build solutions on this complex, multilevel foundation.
Although Internet-based applications will enjoy increasing prominence, the current base of installed systems will hardly disappear. Typically, a multitude of high investment systems run the business, and cannot be discarded or easily displaced. In fact, a more realistic goal is integrating these new platforms with backbone legacy systems to deliver innovative new applications.
The prevailing approach to solving the problem is attacking it in piecemeal fashion. When the initial request for a new breed of solution is made, IT selects environment-specific tools. Of course, for a single application this approach may work well, but it introduces ever more tools and technologies into the mix, fracturing the skills base and eventually decreasing flexibility as well as responsiveness to evolving business needs.
Simplifying the chaos with a single database is one logical alternative. In reality, however, this solution is unworkable at the enterprise level since all existing applications would have to be rewritten to run against a single database. In addition, one database is not suitable for managing every type of data.
An alternative approach is try instead to standardise on a single development language. The assumption here is that a suitable tool can be identified for writing logic across all platforms. Unfortunately, this approach also requires replacing existing applications, along with retraining staff to use the new tool. Then too, there is the risk of putting too many eggs in one basket because all current and future data sources might not continue to be supported. It is uncertain whether today's chosen tool will remain relevant a few years down the road. So a single development language is always a moving target.
A more pragmatic approach is to embrace information chaos by using an infrastructure that can support current requirements as well as adapt to changes. Separating the user interface, business logic and databases into components is a starting point. This n-tier approach allows components to freely interact with each other, providing operational flexibility across many different configurations. With this separation, each component can be reused and reconfigured to adjust to dynamic business requirements. The business benefit is the ability to quickly leverage not only your existing data, but also existing business logic in production environments. This vision requires an infrastructure that ties these components together, without inconveniently binding them, so that building and deploying real-world applications is productive and cost effective.
The basis of CA`s Harmony strategy is providing innovative solutions that satisfy current business computing needs by jointly leveraging existing and new technologies. In support of the Harmony strategy CA has a common infrastructure that ties together modern interfaces and development tools with existing business logic and data.
Harmony is a technology foundation that ties together and enhances CA`s leading Information Management solutions:
- Jasmine - an object-oriented database ideal for managing complex data relationships in multimedia, Internet or LAN/WAN-based applications;
- Ingres II - a relational database that via Harmony will enable users to built n-tier applications with the most modern Web-enabled graphical interfaces;
- IDMS and Datacom - host-based databases that act as premier enterprise servers in large organisations, and enable users to deliver modern user interfaces using Meta4 graphical user interface (GUI) creation technology; and
- Opal - a Windows-based, multi-tiered authoring and application-integration environment for creating multimedia GUIs for mainframe and host-based systems that can now also directly connect to application logic.
Harmony is a flexible strategy ready to address the current chaos as well as future challenges. Harmony also incorporates support for both formal standards, such as CORBA, and de facto industry standards, such as COM from Microsoft, and Java from Sun Microsystems. CA is aggressively driving the standards in many of these areas through it`s NetBiz initiative. NetBiz brings together numerous industry players to deliver complete Internet business solutions.
Harmony is open to choice since, despite its broad array of solutions, CA cannot anticipate every customer need. So Harmony partners offer a large and growing array of solutions for a wide range of business requirements. Partner solutions help with data access and reporting, new multimedia solutions, professional development tools, support for e-commerce, and fully packaged application solutions. Adopting these "Partners in Harmony" solutions means avoiding building core functionality from scratch.
There are already quite a few "Partners in Harmony" solutions. Intel, Adobe, Bitstream and others have integrated their new-media solutions, into the Harmony strategy. Application vendors include TDI for workflow, Template for general business applications, and Champs for maintenance management systems. Other examples include CosmoCom for e-commerce solutions, and Kodak Digital cameras for integrating pictures with your applications. Some cornerstone products, that at first glance might seem to be competitors, are actually partners in Harmony's inclusive strategy as well. DB2, Oracle, Informix and others are all de facto Harmony partners. Harmony partners can accelerate most organisations' systems deployment.
"Harmonised" CA products can take advantage of a common underlying infrastructure. The Harmony infrastructure offers essential services such as communications, data transport, distributed naming, object wrapping, auto discovery, backup, and access to non-CA applications/data sources. Many of these capabilities are currently available, and the balance will be available over the next eighteen months.
IT organisations can think of Harmony as a way to deliver the modern applications that users are demanding, as well as an insurance policy protecting against the difficulties of integrating applications, data, and resources together now and in the future. The promise of Harmony is that CA users will be able to "future-proof" their applications. They will be able to build on top of what they already have in place, add new technology where necessary, and leverage their investments across both CA and non-CA products.
According to the Aberdeen Group, Harmony is an innovative strategy that should resonate with customers, as much because it enables creation of interactive, accessible web-fluent applications as because it reinvigorates "legacy" applications and associated support systems.
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