Next Generation ArchitectureDavid Cearly, research
vice president at Gartner believes that Next Generation Architecture will
constitute the third big era in the IT industry's history (the first having been
the hardware era and second belonging to software). These emerging technologies
will form key pillars of the new architecture:
Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
SOA uses interactive business components designed to be meaningful, usable
and useful across application or enterprise boundaries. Despite the current
disillusionment with SOA, Gartner expects support for SOA to grow and for it to
mature as a technology within ten years although many changes in user and vendor
organisations and technologies are required before SOA reaches its full
potential. However, in the longer term, Gartner believes that SOA has the
potential to be transformational to a business.
Web Services-Enabled Business Models (Web
Services)
These productivity-boosting models represent a new approach to doing business
among enterprises and consumers that would not have been possible without the
benefits of web-services. However enterprises are still wrestling with what web
services will do and Gartner believes that the potentially transformational
impact of Web Services-Enabled Business Models will have to wait for more-mature
standards and clearer examples.
Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)
This is an Extensible-Markup-Language-defined standard for analysing,
exchanging and reporting financial information. XBRL helps organizations meet
multiple financial reporting needs through a single instance of financial data.
It also improves the timeliness and accuracy of financial and regulatory
reporting, validation and distribution. XBRL enables integration, aggregation,
validation and comparison of financial data. It also automates sourcing and the
review of financial data for activities such as loan acceptances, investment
portfolio management and risk reviews. Financial accounting software vendors are
already incorporating XBRL and regulatory and transparency pressures increase
the significance and likelihood of XBRL adoption. However, there have been
setbacks in XBRL adoption in the past year; the most significant have been
delays in the FDIC and FSA projects that will mandate XBRL reporting.
Business Process Platforms (BPP)
BBP provide business process flexibility and adaptability. They use SOA
design principles and are metadata and model driven. Gartner believes that
Business Process Platforms will enable business process fusion and move
innovation from business application vendors to BPP ecosystems. Ultimately they
will replace customised business applications and custom development by
extending core applications platforms with composite applications.
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