Enterprise Application Integration: This Could Be the Start of Something Small
Cheaper and faster has become the motto of almost every CIO, and that's why the reign of vast enterprisewide application suites is drawing to a close. Taking their place are targeted point applications. Here's how CIOs are making the switch.
"One of the values people are seeing in Web services technology is that, unlike enterprise application software, it’s an overlay on existing technology," Hagel says. "There’s a much smaller investment required than when you’re forcing people to implement all new applications."
Web services standards are still evolving and security remains an issue, but CIOs may be willing to make that trade-off for increased flexibility. "It’s relatively new technology, but something like Web services is very attractive," says Steve Morelli, senior vice president of strategic planning, business development and IT for San Francisco-based Del Monte.
Schmitz predicts that more CIOs will eventually move to the component-based systems made possible by Web services. "As people begin to build out on an enterprisewide scale using best-of-breed technology in every category, they’re going to achieve a level of reliability, flexibility and speed that the monolithic systems will never be able to achieve," he says.
