IBM's DataPower buy shows that the stakes are high in application networking

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: SCOTT CRAWFORD ON NETWORK/SYSTEMS
MANAGEMENT
10/26/05
Today's focus: IBM's DataPower buy shows that the stakes are
high in application networking

Dear security.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* IBM, DataPower and the future of application networking
* Links related to Network/Systems Management
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: IBM's DataPower buy shows that the stakes are
high in application networking

By Scott Crawford

In August, IBM embarked on a significantly heightened Web
services strategy with the unveiling of its IBM Tivoli for
Composite Application Management (ITCAM) suite
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/082905-tivoli-soa.html?rl.
Yet this paled in the face of the company's announcement last
week of its acquisition of DataPower
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9262.

DataPower is an acknowledged pure-play leader in Web services,
known for its XML acceleration and Web services security
offerings. DataPower has helped to define the real-world
implementation of service-oriented architectures (SOA) by
optimizing emerging Web services and XML standards for
performance and security management with its patented XML
Generation Three (XG3) technology. This acquisition signals a
dedication to SOAs that IBM had not shown before, and the
purchase of a family of network appliances is something that is
highly unexpected of IBM.

In addition, DataPower was acquired by the WebSphere business
unit and is an example of how Web services/SOA/applications
networking is really blurring the boundaries between what can be
considered the network, what can be considered systems, and what
in software is distinct from either.

The network appliance model enables DataPower to route network
traffic based on rules-based intelligence and XML content;
perform a number of XML-relevant content transformations; and
enforce security using Web services encryption, security and
policy standards - all at wireline speeds. This will give IBM
the ability to deliver Web services technologies as part of the
network itself.

IBM's announcement is the latest in a list of headlines in the
application networking space this year. The day before IBM's
announcement, DataPower arch rival Reactivity announced the
integration of Microsoft Windows authentication
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/101705-reactivity.html?rl
into its own single sign-on offerings for Web services. A few
months earlier, Cisco announced its Application-Oriented
Networking (AON) initiative
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/062705-cisco.html?rl.
IBM's acquisition of DataPower, however, now makes IBM the
player to watch in SOA integration, bringing leadership in XML
networking into the same family with WebSphere, Rational and
ITCAM.

This illustrates how dramatically applications are redefining
what the network must embrace, while network technologies for
message-based routing are forcing application and software
vendors to consider the network much more of a strategic
priority than in the past. These facts are making for some
strange bedfellows in SOA "coop-etition." Facing threats in
application delivery and management from the likes of HP and
BEA, it was no surprise that IBM declared its support for
Cisco's AON when that was announced in June. AON itself is being
led by a 32-year IBM veteran, Taf Anthias, the former head of
IBM's MQ messaging group. Yet if the DataPower deal is directed
at anyone, it is clearly at Cisco and its AON goals. IBM's
message: Applications are primarily about the software, but with
critical aspects of the network at stake - effectively the
reverse of the Cisco AON theme.

Yet Cisco, IBM, and even the likes of Google are actually
sending much the same message, which is simply this: It's not
about software vs. networks. It's about the future of IT itself.
SOAs are fast turning application networks into the information
technologies of tomorrow. Everyone with a stake in the
enterprise will need to play - and IBM's acquisition of
DataPower means that all bets are off as to what an application
network vendor looks like only a mere year or two from now.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Cisco talking IP-radio nets
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9610
2. How to respond to a security breach
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9722
3. School traps infected PCs in its web
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9368
4. Cartoon of the Week http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9369
5. CTO: BellSouth lost 9 COs to Katrina
http://www.networkworld.com/nlnsm9723

_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Scott Crawford

Scott Crawford, CISSP, is a Senior Analyst focused on IT
security, systems and application management with Enterprise
Management Associates in Boulder, Colo., an analyst and market
research firm focusing exclusively on all aspects of enterprise
management systems and services. The former information security
chief for the International Data Centre of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria,
Crawford has also been a systems professional with the
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research as well as
Emerson, HP, and other organizations in both public and private
sectors. He can be reached at
mailto:scrawford@enterprisemanagement.com
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FEATURED READER RESOURCE

GRID TAKING SHAPE IN THE ENTERPRISE

Grid computing continues to gain ground and vendors such as IBM,
Platform Computing, Sun, SAS and Univa are launching services,
products and partnerships to support this growth. But will
challenges such as software licensing, security and bandwidth
issues hinder grid rollouts? Click here for more:

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/101005-grid.html
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