Archive

• Implementing SOA is only a first step towards practical reuse
• Raw services can't be reused without specialist skills
• Contextual information makes services more accessible to other users
• Reusing the user interface logic lowers the adoption curve
• Flexible service assembly enables user-centric application design

"What is PCM (Product Content Management)? Many vendors talk about enterprise-wide data repositories for non-transactional product information within large organizations. But true PCM means more than just the centralized repository to eliminate data duplication with a limited sprinkle of functionality; rather, the repository must be capable of storing all product information, the system must be more than a point solution or an island, it must offer high-performance access to that information, and it must include tightly integrated functionality that can be used to drive all enterprise initiatives."

• Each vendor adds its own extras to the core offering
• Some manage from a systems perspective, others take a business angle
• Many prefer network-based brokers to endpoint agents
• Most specialize in certain vertical industries
• Each encounters a different subset of the enterprise market

"Ask a group of corporate IT leaders whether they'd rather stick their arms into a box of tarantulas or allow open source software (OSS) on their networks, and odds are most would start rolling up their sleeves.

In this security-conscious era, getting IT or business leaders to consider using OSS can be a tough sell. One of the main reasons is a perceived lack of control - or a throat to choke to put it another way. If you purchase packaged software, you know who's responsible. If you're using Microsoft Outlook and some knucklehead exploits a hole to distribute a virus to your user base, all eyes turn to Redmond for a patch. But if you're using Evolution and a similar problem occurs, to whom do you turn for a remedy? (See Myth #4 for the answer.)"

"As debuggers have grown in power and capability, they have become more and more harmful to the process of software development.

Debuggers have become immensely powerful. A good debugger is a very capable tool. With it, an experienced developer can step through very complex code, look at all the variables, data structures, and stack frames; even modify the code and continue. And yet, for all their power, debuggers have done more to damage software development than help it."