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HOME >> OPINIONS

Middleware 2.0

By John Crupi

November 1, 2006 — (Page 1 of 4)
Most of us are getting tired of seeing “2.0” added to just about everything these days, but sometimes it’s the best way to describe the next wave. That’s why I’ll use it here to describe what’s coming for middleware. Don’t get me wrong: I know how valuable middleware is, and it will surely be around for a very long time. But I really do think traditional middleware is in trouble. More specifically, traditional middleware is not meeting the needs of forward-thinking enterprises that are Web-enabling their business applications.

A DEPOSED KING
Middleware used to be king, but it is now being relegated to lower-level tasks. The capabilities of traditional middleware just aren’t enough for Web-based computing. The next generation of Web computing needs new capabilities, and this is causing a radical shift in what we think of traditional middleware.

A few years back, Sun Microsystems’ Jonathan Schwartz famously said, “Middleware is dead.” The industry shrugged off his comments, and IBM’s response was to place “Middleware is here” billboards at strategic spots all along California’s US-101 highway in Silicon Valley. The reality today is that middleware is not dead—far from it. However, it is being pushed aside, or in this case pushed down. Let me explain.

Consider this analogy: Java was not originally intended for enterprise computing. Instead, it was designed as a client-side programming language. I was at Sun when J2EE made its debut. We were pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) when customers accepted J2EE and decided to move their business-critical applications to J2EE. Why did this happen? Why did enterprises entrust their business to such a new and unproven technology?

It had to do a lot with the amount of pain it reduced. Specifically, J2EE reduced the amount of middleware developers had to write and let them focus more on writing business applications. The J2EE application servers now handled all the chores of memory and life-cycle management. J2EE became a commoditized part of the Web middleware platform and made a lot of money for many people.

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Growth seen in application middleware
The world market for middleware grew by 13% last year, according to Gartner. Demand for service-oriented architecture and advances in middleware technology are seen as the two biggest contributors to the growth Read More...

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