VORTEX Digest
John Gallant Spotlights Top Network News and Issues
Comments to: mailto:jgallant@vortex.net
Sept. 30, 2005
Volume 7, Number 2
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In This Issue:
* Intel developing technologies for emerging markets
* What is Cisco's game plan with AON?
* Do you know about "India's Google"?
* The view from Cisco, live at VORTEX 2005
* Subscription information
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"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in
overalls and looks like work."
Thomas Edison
(Special note: Just three weeks until VORTEX 2005. Sign up now!
http://www.vortex.net.)
Dear Vorticians,
I picked up that gem of a quote yesterday from Intel Senior
Fellow Justin Rattner, who spoke at MIT Technology Review's
Emerging Technology Conference in the People's Republic of
Cambridge, Mass. Rattner was outlining Intel's efforts to develop
technologies tailored to the needs of consumers in emerging
markets like China and India, including a specially hardened PC
that can be used by entire villages to access the world.
According to Rattner's stats, nearly 80% of the U.S. personal
computer market has been penetrated, compared to less than 5% in
emerging markets.
Rattner was joined on stage by Cisco Chief Development Officer
Charlie Giancarlo, who joined me for lunch after the
presentation. During his on-stage discussion, Giancarlo talked
about how the speed of data center interconnects is coming to
match the speed of computer backplanes, which enables customers
to deconstruct the server as we know it - separating processors
and memory, for example, from the disks - and creating greater
opportunities for virtualization of computing. In essence,
advances in networking are redefining the "computer" as we know
it today and, as a result, changing the role and shape of the
operating system of the future. All of this could go a long way
toward resolving the scaling problems customers face, Giancarlo
claims.
Over lunch, I dived deeply into Cisco's Application Oriented
Networks (AON) strategy, which was rolled out in June. AON has
been met with a mix of confusion, skepticism and intrigue. It
sounds great to talk about how the network will provide better
support for applications - including Web services-based apps -
but what exactly is Cisco planning to do and what will customers
be required to buy and manage?
Some folks positioned AON as simply Cisco's introduction of an
XML switch, but Giancarlo says that's a mischaracterization.
Cisco is beta-testing what he calls a multiprotocol message
router (an MMR, and I'll get to that in a second), but that's
only one step on a longer road toward ensuring that not only do
applications perform better but that the network provides some
intelligence that improves business processes.
For example, he says, the router could look inside a message and
determine that some action needs to be taken - say, a P.O. needs
to be approved by a senior manager - before the information is
forwarded. In addition to the new router, Cisco is providing
lower-level functionality such as compression and app
acceleration that also improve performance.
So what's an MMR?
Well, it's helpful to use an analogy to understand it. A
traditional router moved and translated packets sent among
diverse networks - an IP network, a Novell or Apple LAN or an IBM
SNA environment. Similarly, the MMR will move and translate
messages among diverse message-oriented apps platforms. The
messages could be in an XML format or in the format used by
TIBCO, IBM's MQ Series, EDI messages or proprietary message
formats, among others. The router connects these systems and
rapidly shuttles information back and forth, improving apps
performance. (Message switching has also garnered the attention
of Intel, which recently acquired XML switching company Sarvega.
That move will likely help Intel improve the performance of its
server systems.)
More important perhaps, the router (with its graphical interface)
becomes a single point of change that frees an enterprise from
modifying each of the applications that support its intra-company
or inter-company processes every time business needs change. As
mentioned above, it would also enable enterprises to embed
business logic in the network that could ensure that business
processes are handled in particular ways.
Two questions about this:
1. Do we need or want the network to do this?
2. How will this differ from what Juniper will ultimately deliver
to customers? Juniper has made application acceleration the
centerpiece of its attack on the enterprise and it's clear that
it will be a major front in the war with Cisco. What will Juniper
do differently?
We'll explore both in upcoming issues.
Also, for fun, take a look at this piece in the VORTEX Blog on
"India's Google."
http://www.networkworld.com/weblogs/vortex/2005/010065.html#01006
As always, you can reach me at mailto:jgallant@vortex.net.
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The View from Cisco
Susan L. Bostrom SVP, Internet Business Solutions Group and
Worldwide
Randy Pond, SVP, Operations, Processes and Systems, Cisco Systems
VORTEX 2005: Setting the IT Agenda
Breakthrough to Value
Oct. 24-26 at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco
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Since its emergence during the Internet boom, Cisco has been a
leader in finding breakthrough applications for the Internet. Two
top leaders share where the company is focused today. Sue
Bostrom, is driving the application of IT to Cisco's core
interactions, focusing on moving IT from a transaction-oriented
to an interaction-oriented service. Randy Pond oversees key
productivity improvement initiatives in manufacturing, logistics,
and customer support. In this area, Cisco is working to capture
domain knowledge into IT systems, and thereby free up their most
experienced people for more value-adding tasks.
Register today at http://www.vortex.net/V5E1VD
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ABOUT VORTEX DIGEST
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VORTEX Digest is a weekly summary of the VORTEX Blogs written by
Executive Producer John Gallant and offers an ongoing dialogue
on matters raised at The VORTEX Conference, and within the VORTEX
Community.
VORTEX is an exclusive, invitation-only event for senior
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thought, funding, and regulatory expertise, to shape the future
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VORTEX shakes off the hype and helps you understand where you can
win new customers, and find new revenue in a time of dramatic and
seemingly unpredictable change.
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Copyright: Network World, Inc. 2005
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