More recently, phishing and spoofing have highlighted some security concerns inherent in SMTP. Help is on the way: Microsoft has integrated its SenderID with SPF (Sender Policy Framework, developed by Meng Wong of Pobox.com); and Yahoo is promoting DomainKeys (antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys), the only other proposal with widespread traction at this time. It will be a few years before we get the full benefit of these technologies--they first need to get through the standards process, and the hundreds of thousands of insecure SMTP mail servers in operation today must be updated. For now, find a good antispam product and keep your eye on these new mail security initiatives in the works.
SOA What?
Integration is still an issue, but Web services are slowly but surely circumventing the need for specialized EAI (enterprise application integration) tools. Four in 10 Web services developers say Web services "absolutely" or "probably" diminish the need for EAI tools, according to a recent survey by Evans Data Corp. And EAI platform providers such as IBM, Tibco and WebMethods appear to agree, as their platforms last year added support for Web services as a method of integration.
Most enterprises have multiple disconnected islands of Web services, partly because of the SOAP interfaces in enterprise-class applications such as PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel. These easily accessible data sources have raised security concerns. Security will be an even bigger challenge in 2005 as organizations try to get a handle on these services as well as those that support other initiatives, such as integration with trading partners and distributors.
Web services are catching on at midsize companies. A recent Yankee Group study found that among surveyed companies with 1,000 to 1,999 employees, 59 percent plan to deploy Web services in 12 months (see "At Your Service," at right).
Bob Friday, Chief AI Officer for Juniper Networks, explains how the advanced technology is transforming operations.
Contact center leaders from 8x8, Awaken Intelligence, and 360insight discuss the importance of agent experience.
AI may force enterprises to rewire parts of their data centers so they are fully optimized to run such workloads. The question is do you use Ethernet or InfiniBand?
