[clug] ACM Technews snippet

[Steve Jenkin]

http://www.acm.org/technews/articles/2003-5/0411f.html#item16
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/outsourcing/story/0,10801,80013,00.html

I agree with the trend, but not with the specifics...

The 'PC revolution' was all about autonomy - people being incharge of their 
own destiny/outcomes, /not/ being 'at effect of' big (uncaring) anonymous 
providors.

Storage Farms - yes,
Appliances - yes
centralised servers - no
ERP - no


# "The Ins and Outs of IT"
Computerworld (04/07/03) Vol. 37, No. 14, P. 33; Anthes, Gary H.

Enterprise technology is shifting like the sands of the desert, says Cap 
Gemini Ernst & Young chief technologist John Parkinson. He says one of the 
most distinctive and important shifts will be toward a pervasive utility 
architecture, where approximately 100 firms will run their own systems and 
all others will purchase computing resources from them. Systems and data 
security is needed for this scenario, since many companies will be using just 
one copy of the software, buying only the capabilities they need. On the user 
level, role-based security will allow workers to handle more tasks 
efficiently while ensuring system integrity. Storage technology will progress 
dramatically in the next five years so that, in conjunction with peer-to-peer 
technology, data warehouses will become obsolete. Parkinson says LOCKSS (lots 
of copies keep stuff safe) strategy will ensure data is always available and 
backed up, while embedded analytics will be needed to support on-demand 
business applications. In terms of operating systems, Parkinson sees a 
divergence with operating systems shrinking to become simple DNA instructions 
guiding software agents, while other systems will grow in importance and act 
as service-provisioning platforms. Parkinson says existing collaboration 
technology is not much of an improvement on the telephone. Meanwhile, 
enterprise resource planning (ERP) will extend beyond the enterprise to 
supply chain partners in order to yield greater efficiencies for all parties.
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Steve Jenkin
PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615 
(m) 0412 786 915