LAS VEGAS — At
the IBM Impact 2011 conference here, IBM will unveil
new software that will allow clients to develop, deploy and manage new types of
applications spanning all major platforms, from the mainframe to mobile
devices.
Key among the
offerings is WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 8, new software designed to
speed the development of applications and services. The new version of WAS
increases users' security and control, and delivers automated enhancements for
the installation, maintenance, testing and problem resolution of business
applications.
Complementing
these capabilities are new features that extend the reach of WAS to support
applications from the desktop to mobile devices through support for popular
smartphones and tablets such as iPad, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and
others. Support for these devices is critical to businesses as mobile
applications constitute one of the today’s largest growth areas; one recent
report estimates that the global mobile applications market should grow to $25
billion by 2015, up from $6.8 billion in 2010.
As 2011
represents IBM's 100th year in existence and the company plans a major
centennial celebration this year, IBM is preparing to celebrate WebSphere as
one of the top innovations in its history, as part of the IBM Centennial
celebration. WebSphere is IBM’s foundation for the layer of software known as
middleware that enables Web applications and computer operating systems to
interoperate. Initially developed in 1997, WebSphere became one of the key
catalysts for IBM’s evolution beyond hardware and into software and services.
As part of its centennial celebration, IBM has identified WebSphere as one of
the key technology drivers that enabled the Web to become a platform for
business computing.
Indeed,
according IBM, WebSphere:
- paved
the way for virtually all commerce to become electronic and for every
dimension of business operations, including customer relations, accounting
and HR, to become Web-enabled;
- transformed
IBM from a hardware-centric company to one focused on software and
services;
-
helped
IBM become the leader of an $18 billion middleware market;
-
became
a cornerstone for new enterprise computing paradigm known as Services
Oriented Architecture, or SOA; and
-
led IBM’s march to become the world’s second-largest software company
today.
Moreover,
there are currently more than 100,000 WebSphere clients worldwide, and one of
these—heavy industry giant Caterpillar, has already begun testing how the new
software can expand its applications to reach new customers, IBM said.
“Caterpillar
signed its first contract with IBM in 1928, meaning that we have been an IBM
customer and partner for much of IBM’s first century,” John Heller, Chief Information
Officer at Caterpillar, said in a statement. “As one of the early WebSphere
adopters, we anticipate that the latest version of WebSphere will help us to
develop new types of applications serving our customers in all businesses and
markets.”
And with the
April 11 announcement, IBM is introducing a series of products and services to
its WebSphere portfolio. These products provide the backbone for tens of
thousands of IT infrastructures worldwide and include the following.
- Workload Deployer allows companies to assemble customized cloud
services with templates based on IBM best practices, and features a wide range
of IBM software, services and management capabilities.
- WebSphere Virtual Enterprise provides the ability to consolidate
servers and enhance the use of existing infrastructure.
- WebSphere DataPower XC10 Appliance improves response time and
lowers the risk of data loss via automatic replication, delivering high
availability.
- CICS Transaction Server for z/OS delivers a reliable environment
for high-value/high-volume business transactions.
- WebSphere Extended Deployment Compute Grid collaboratively shares
resources between batch and online transactions, lowering IT costs.
- WebSphere
Application Accelerator gives global reach for critical application by using
the Internet to speed applications to customers anywhere/anytime, and provides
application optimization service at the “edge of the network.”
“We are seeing
sea changes in the way people demand access to their information and
applications," Marie Wieck, general manager, application and integration
middleware at IBM, said in a statement. “With today’s announcement, IBM is
prepared to help our clients efficiently reuse existing IT to expand their
business footprint to new applications, services and markets through mobile,
social, cloud and other new users beyond their traditional customer base.”
Moreover, for
more than a decade, IBM has been named the No. 1 shareholder in the worldwide
application infrastructure and middleware software market according to industry
analysts. According to Gartner, in a worldwide application infrastructure and
middleware software market worth $17.6 billion, IBM in 2010 was once again the
top software vendor with 32.6 percent market share, extending its lead to
nearly double that of its closest competitor.
IBM said the
Impact 2011 conference features more than 8,000 attendees and hundreds of
client testimonials, presentations, workshops and product demos, making Impact
2011 the largest worldwide conference created to meet the growing demand for an
educational forum around business agility, IBM said.
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