Java and IBM
e-business Solutions

By George Postalian, Senior Consulting IT Architect
Network Computing Solutions, IBM Canada, Ltd


As IBM's customers move from the world of doing business as usual to one that is based on e-business, there are a number of new Web-based technologies available today to help them shape this new way of doing business.

Java and Network Computers are two key technologies from IBM that assist businesses in creating e-business value. IBM's ability to combine these Web-based technologies with customers' existing IT environment(s) allows businesses to extend their reach, lower their costs, and create new value for their customers and themselves.

Let's examine Java.

IBM Is Making Java Real for Businesses Today!

What is Java?

  • More than a language, Java is a
    • platform independent execution environment
    • productive component architecture
    • secure computing "sandbox"
    • link to mission critical databases and transaction systems
  • Java unifies diversified computing environments from imbedded devices to mainframes
No matter what you may have seen or heard in the past about Java, there's a lot more to Java than just another programming language. Java is a cross-platform, network-aware computing environment that is compact and robust.

Information Services managers know that, typically, a business operates on many platforms, and they cobble together solutions using various protocols and expensive, customized solutions to bridge mixed systems. Java solves that problem.

Java Can Change Business for the Better

What your business is and what it does most likely won't change, but your infrastructure will evolve. That's why "changing the way you do business" is a promise you see and hear all the time. Java has the power to effect major changes. The personal computers on desks throughout your business are expensive to buy and even more costly to maintain. Java offers ways to leverage your existing investments in computers and software while minimizing the costs of implementing new systems and software.

Your software can be written once in Java, and it will run on any Java-enabled computer. The end user can access your applications from any Java-enabled client, whether that client is a PC with a browser or is a network computer. While power users in your company will still rely on the local processing power of PCs, customer service representatives, administrators, researchers, and other people who just need a computer's core business functions will find that a network computer such as IBM's Network Station is an ideal solution. It can run a browser like Netscape Navigator and retrieve, manipulate, and distribute data and information from the corporate intranet or the World Wide Web.

And as the development community creates more Java applications and applets, Java-enabled networks will give everybody on your network the tools they need to get the job done.

The Java Momentum

  • More than 70 million users of Java today
  • 52% of Fortune 1000 companies have resources on Java
    • 16% have already deployed their first Java application
    • 42% plan to use Java in mission-critical apps by '99
  • More than 1 million downloads of JDK 1.1
    • 400,000 serious developers (up from 200,000 six months ago), growing to 600,000 by year end '97
  • More than 1000 shipped Java applications
  • More than 75 certified 100% Pure Java applications (more than 100 in the queue)
  • More than 200 universities offering courses in Java
  • More than 800 Java books in print, surpassing the number available on C++
  • Java tools market estimated to be $100M in 1996, growing to $800M by 2000
    • IBM's VisualAge for Java (beta) has 32K downloads since 4/1 and is #2 for downloads on Jumbo shareware site out of 94K titles
  • Internet services market estimated to be over $2B in 1996, going to $14B by 2000
    • 52% of spending is for Internet apps, for which Java is the natural language

A Universal Platform--with Custom Solutions

What are customers doing with Java today?

  • Self-service/customer service
    • Customers, employees, partners, suppliers
  • Reach new markets and customers
    • Media (Web), geography, audience, market segment
  • New or integrated applications
    • Productivity, multimedia, rapid development
    • Imbedded technology (from vending machine to mainframe)
  • Extend existing business applications
    • Mission critical and productivity applications
How you choose to implement Java depends on the nature of your enterprise. It's not hard to realize effective, innovative Java scenarios in retail, manufacturing, health care, sales, and other industries that use information to further business goals.

Introducing Java-based systems for businesses is by nature an evolutionary process. Java lets you keep working with your existing systems--your PCs, servers, and hosts--because it is platform-independent. So Java lowers the cost of computing, both in terms of developing and maintaining software and applications and in extending access to every computer user on your network.

Share Information through the Network

Business computing is much more than simply accessing information. You need to work with data in increasingly innovative ways. With its inherent platform independence, Java provides a perfect solution. Java-enabled middleware--which is the software on servers that helps client systems talk to host systems--sends applets on demand from network servers to the Java-enabled client Network computer or PC client enabled with Java. The client can get to the host transactional systems, such as IBM CICS, with no changes to the host code.

If you have questions about Network Computers or Java, please e-mail me.


This document reflects IBM's current plans, which are subject to change.

Why partner with IBM on Java?

  • Expertise to extend mission-critical enterprise applications with Java
  • Servers--best of breed: durable, reliable, secure, and scalable
    • Houses more than 70% of world's business data
    • Best "client" is no longer the issue
    • IBM OSs, middleware, and servers are Java-enabled
    • AD tools for mission-critical networked applications
    • Broad range of Java skills and services



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