Gartner blog: B2B Just Became Fun Again!
Posted by Margaret Dawson on September 16, 2010
I’m having one of those blogger moments, when I find a draft I wrote four months ago still sitting in drafts . . . . .
Gotta love it when analysts get as giddy as the rest of us techies over renewed excitement in our industry. A recent blog by Gartner analyst Benoit Lheureux does just that, noting that the recent M&A activity in the B2B integration market is putting renewed excitement, and even fun, in the integration arena. I agree with Benoit (and just as selfishly) that it’s about time.
B2B integration is not new, and the last ten years have driven increased demand, what with increased globalization, system complexity, and the need to collaborate and share information real time with partners and customers. But like many technology areas, it’s not necessarily sexy to outsiders. But with companies like IBM and others starting to take serious interest not only in multi-enterprise integration but also in the cloud, folks are paying attention.
As with many other areas of technology, integration is merging with related areas, such as SOA, business process management, and cloud services. In this blog, Lheureux ponders how the big players will battle: “Will they battle on integration software or services? Will they battle on business process networks, multi-enterprise applications or multi-enterprise business process platform or Cloud services brokerage?”
This recent activity has continued to spur speculation of what other companies will do. Lheureux asks: ” . . will other IT mega-vendors — e.g., Oracle, SAP, or perhaps even Google, Salesforce.com — consider “buying a B2B network”? What is the future of stand-alone B2B providers such as Hubspan or Boomi? Or B2B hybrid specialists like E2open or Liaison?”
The good news is the customer is bound to be the winner in this, as convergence often drives innovation and positive partnerships. For current customers of companies like IBM, this movement means they will get greater choice of solutions, across the integration specturm of integration. In addition to IBM’s recent acquisition of Cast Iron and Sterling Commerce, the company has partnered with Hubspan to extend WebSphere integration to the cloud with our joint solution, WebSpan – which combines Hubspan’s cloud integration platform and services with key components of IBM WebSphere integration software.
If you don’t know much about B2B integration, maybe it’s time to give it a second glance. You may even have some fun!
Tags: B2B Integration, Benoit Lheureux, Cloud Integration, Gartner, IBM
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