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Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers

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Application Servers are the cornerstone of next generation e-business. For users the question is not whether they should be a part of your strategy .... rather which one.

Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers

This new service from Ovum ensures you will always have all the information to hand so that you can:

• Users organisations and consultants can identify the key application server vendors
• Find out how the different products and vendors compare
• User organisations and consultants can identify the application server best suited to your scenario
• Find out how the technology and products will evolve over the next five years
• Understand the implications of support for J2EE, CORBA and COM

Ovum estimates that the application server market will be worth $17 billion by 2004.

Read on to find out how you can benefit from this new service.

Has application server technology finally grown up?

Application server technology emerged a couple of years ago, with the express purpose of addressing many of the shortcomings of client-server and enterprise middleware. Client-server applications had proved complicated to adapt and costly to manage. Enterprise middleware which heralded the dawn of three tiered computing had proved difficult to implement. Moreover, neither product was specifically designed to support the range of different client types essential for large organisations with heterogeneous systems, and a 'must-have' for deploying applications on the Web.

Application server heralds a new era, promising a standardised middle tier, that will intermediate between the two disparate worlds of stable, core corporate applications or databases and the dynamic client interfaces of the Web. Moreover, in an increasingly fast moving commercial environment, the component based paradigm promised a more efficient and adaptable way to meet new business challenges, and exploit new technologies.

However, early versions of even the most advanced application servers often lacked the necessary enterprise scale services necessary to deliver on these promises. With the advent of mobile e-business and increased expectations from e-business applications, application servers have even more to deliver. Some have matured rapidly and are now delivering on the earlier promises of the technology. The gap between vendors is now widening with truly enterprise scale servers emerging.

Ovum's new service Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers contains in-depth evaluations of the products and services on offer and the performance and future plans of the vendors.

How application servers fit into an organisations systems.

Building next generation e-business applications is tough - what additional services, frameworks and solutions are provided to make it easier.

As application server technology has matured, vendors have become increasingly aware of the need to provide applications and services on top of the base level services to provide the framework for building e-business applications. Ovum identifies five key areas that may be offered as services on top of the core application server technology:

Integration Services:

Many e-business applications rely on data from existing 'legacy' systems. Building applications that access and manage transactions across these systems can be extremely expensive and problematic. Adapters and connectors that 'hook' into and provide services to and from these existing systems can significantly reduce the cost and effort involved.

B2B Frameworks:

Integrating business processes across your supply chain, increasing efficiency and reducing costs, is a typical e-business application. However, the supporting infrastructure necessary to make these applications a reality is not so typical. Pre-built functionality for defining and translating data definitions between companies, for creating new marketplaces, for buyers and sellers, can significantly reduce time to market and the overall cost of building an application.

Content and eProcess Management:

Huge volumes of rapidly changing content, multiple authoring and distributed collaboration are often a key feature of e-business applications. eProcess and content management tools provide a range of services that may encompass workflow, document management, versioning, configuration management and publishing tools that assist in managing these processes.

Portal Frameworks:

With the proliferation of information now available on the Internet, intranets and extranets, portals have emerged as a way to aggregate information to address the needs of specific individuals and communities. Portals have particular technology requirements including content management; enterprise application integration; XML and metadata integration and personalisation.

Component Development Services:

No matter how much functionality is pre-built there will always be development work involved in constructing an application. Integrated component development and testing tools, automated component deployment and remote and distributed debugging are facilities that significantly reduce the cost and timescales involved in constructing and maintaining e-business applications.

Application server vendors vary in their coverage of solutions for these services. Where application server vendors do offer solutions they may provide these by integrating with third parties or through their own custom built solutions. Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers exposes the depth and breadth of coverage of the services provided on top of the core application server technology.

Addressing user conerns

Ovum helps user organisations (the vendors potential clients) to exploit the business opportunities, and to understand the product and services. Ovum's independent and in-depth evaluations provide straightforward answers to questions including:

What should I look for in an application server?

Will adopting a standards based solution give portability or hinder my ability to deliver the business solution?

Why should I consider buying a separate product when Microsoft Windows 2000 comes with a free application server?

How can I know that what looks like a good solution now will be able to address my future needs?

We analyse the key trends and issues in the market and provide in-depth evaluations with unique insights and assessment of vendors' strategies and products.

Independent and thorough evaluations delivered to your desktop. Products/Vendors that will be evaluated by December 2000:

BEA, GemStone, IBM, iPlanet, Inprise, Microsoft, Oracle, SilverStream,

In 2000/2001 we will carry out additional evaluations on other significant e-procurement vendors such as Sybase and ATG, as well as keeping the current evaluations up to date as the products and services change.

Table of Contents (Provisional):

Fundamentals

The evolution of next generation e-business applications

The Ovum application server model

Understanding application server technology

Developing an applications server strategy - the user organisation perspective

Standards and technical information

Briefing Papers

The current market forecast

Market Forecast

Guide to Evaluations

Summary of Evaluations

Evaluations

Full, in-depth 30-page evaluations of the strategies, products and services from the leading Application Server vendors: BEA, GemStone, IBM, iPlanet, Inprise, Microsoft, Oracle, SilverStream

Why IT strategies, project managers and decision makers need this service...

Embarking on a selection process for an application server is probably the most significant IT investment your organisation will be making over the next few years.

By using Ovum's evaluations you make the right decision the first time and will probably find your selection and implementation time is radically reduced.

If you don't use Ovum's evaluations you run the risk of not considering all the products on the market and making the wrong decision. The implications of this are frightening to consider. Purchase the wrong application and it could cost you millions.

Consultants, you need this service to:

Know the marketplace

Consultants and systems integrators are time-starved professionals often without the time to update themselves fully on all the latest product launches and developments. By subscribing to Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers you will always be up-to-date with the latest technology and market developments and be able to pass on this information to your clients.

Understand the products and services

You don't have to keep abreast of all the changes of the products and services in the market. Our ongoing research program of in-depth and independent evaluations ensures that the answers you need about the leading tools and services will always be at your fingertips.

Choosing the right product for your clients

You need to know which product matches your clients needs. By subscribing to this service you will have the most up-to-date product evaluations to hand - ensuring this service will become an invaluable resource that will allow you to add real value to the services you provide to your clients.

Vendors, you need this service to:

Monitor the competition

What's out there in the application server market today? Who's out there? What product developments are taking place? All these are questions that any vendor is constantly asking. By purchasing Ovum Evaluates: Application Servers you can get the answers to these questions in one resource. It will save you hours of competitor analysis time and enable you to form a hard- hitting sales message.

Understand your customer and increase profits

Ovum takes the view of the business user. By reading our evaluations you will have a better understanding of how customers regard the market. This will allow you to develop marketing and development strategies. And enable you to differentiate yourself from the rest of the market and gain a competitive edge.

Understand the market

Ovum's authoritative market analysis, forecasts and briefing papers will give you valuable insight into the market opportunities, dynamics and evolution - essential information to steer your strategies.

Decision Maker or Decision Maker Plus - you decide.

Do you need just the initial report or the complete subscription service? Here's two options for you to decide.

DECISION MAKER - for a quick decision

Do you need to make a decision about application servers now? If you need to:

Understand the technology and its benefits for your organisation

Make and justify the right product and vendor within strict deadlines

Then decision maker is the service for you. As a one-off purchase you will receive all the current evaluations made up to the time of purchasing (our evaluations are constantly being reviewed and updated) and the current market forecast.

However you may decide that you need to be kept constantly up to date with product developments and new launches. DECISION MAKER PLUS.

Decision Maker Plus is a our unique annual subscriptions service that will provide you with the latest evaluations, an annual market forecast, updates to existing evaluations and briefing papers to keep you abreast of the latest industry developments. This will allow:

Users and consultants to:

Understand which supplier/product best matches your requirements today, and track the performance of both vendor and product over time compared to competitors.

Assess whether your organisation will benefit from application servers now or in the future

Vendors to:

Continually compare evaluations of competing products and keep up-to-date with the latest market developments

Understand the strength and weaknesses of your own products and of your competitors

Formulate enhanced product and marketing strategies

Assist your sales force in improving the market position of your product

In the first year you will receive:

Updated and new product evaluations

The evaluations you receive will updated for a whole year and we will also evaluate significant new products as they are launched. This will give you peace of mind in knowing you have the most up-to-date information to hand.

Annual market forecast

Receive Ovum's expert analysis of market developments, predictions of which sections of the market will grow or decline and identifying the key factors behind this movement. This will give you the insight you need to plan your business strategy.