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E-Business Parts List
Core e-business technologies, the companies that provide them, and how much they cost.
No list can cover it all. Business technology evolves too fast. But everyone needs a starting point, and this is it: the list of the basic technologies required to build an e-business. Below you'll find what you need, what you'll pay, and who can hook you up. Check out the product categories, leading vendors and the latest inside tips on products and pricing.
Network Gear & Services
The big electronic gateways that direct data traffic between your company and the public Internet.
| The Technologies |
Market Leaders |
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Carriers |
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After a market implosion in 2001, jittery customers are seeking asylum in big telecoms when they purchase bandwidth. Internet traffic congestion remains a top cause of extended outages, so customers look for not only big-backbone carriers but those with strong links to large networks, ensuring better performance for the largest range of customers.
Tip: The biggest carriers cost more (sometimes twice as much as a regional carrier) but will give you access to the most users. |
Equant (ENT)
www.equant.com
Level(3)
www.level3.com
Internap (INAP)
www.internap.com
ICG
www.icgcomm.com |
| Routers |
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They are the crossingguards of the Internet, examinging packets of data streaming through networks and sending them to their destination. You'll need at least one to link any part of your business to the Net.
Tip: Cisco still dominates the global market. Its prices are also higher than those of its competitors, but its loyal following of engineers and resellers keeps buying.
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Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Cisco 6500, 7200, 7500
www.cisco.com
Nortel Networks (NT)
Contivity 100, 400
www.nortel.com |
| Load Balancers |
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Load-balancing gear (handled either by software or, for larger websites, by separate hardware) helps your servers work as a team by distributing inbound traffic evenly.
Tip: Cisco and Nortel have been preoccupied more with absorbing their recent acquisitions in this market (Arrowpoint and Alteon, respectively) than with improving their products. All the more reason to check out smaller vendors like F5 Networks, which leads the market in new features. |
Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Cisco 6500, 7200, 7500
www.cisco.com
F5 Networks (FFIV)
Big-IP 5000
http://www.f5.com/
Nortel Networks (NT)
Alteon Ace Switch, Ace Director
www.nortel.com |
| Switches |
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These devices relay data between servers instantly. Where routers coordinate the flow of traffic into and out of your Web farm, the switch directs the flow of packets on the inside.
Tip: Cisco dominates the market as well; more than 60 percent of Global 2000 firms use Cisco switching products. But the market is gradually becoming commoditized: Switch vendors sell more based on great service and support, less based on price and basic features.
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Cisco Systems (CSCO)
Cisco 6500, 7200, 7500
www.cisco.com
Extreme Networks (EXTR)
http://www.extremenetworks.com/
Nortel Networks (NT)
www.nortel.com
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Security & Disaster Recovery
The software that keeps your company safe from online mischief-makers and unexpected disasters.
| The Technologies |
Market Leaders |
| Authentication |
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This software verifies the identity of an individual before allowing access to applications and other resources. It comes in two basic forms; network authentication, typically handled by a network operating system such as Microsoft Windows 2000, and individual authentication for Web-based applications.
Tip: Enterprise businesses are starting to beef up user-ID security with token-based systems such as RSA's SecureID and, to a smaller degree, fingerprint and other nascent biometric systems.
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Funk Software (Private)
Steel-Belted Radius/Enterprise
www.funk.com
Netegrity (NETE)
SiteMinder
www.netegrity.com
RSA (RSAS)
ClerTrust
www.rsa.com |
| Firewalls |
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These serve as the sentries for your electronic business, inspecting incoming traffic for intruders and blocking access to websites the company deems off-limits.
Tip: Check Point and Cisco lead the market, but NetScreen is still a significant challenger, particularily with virtual private network (VPN) capabilities.
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Check Point (CHKP)
Firewall-1
www.checkpoint.com
Cisco Systems (CSCO)
PIX
www.cisco.com
NetScreen (Private)
NetScreen-1000
www.netscreen.com |
| Encryption |
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This software scrambles data, so even if thieves get their hands on it, they won't be able to read it. Encryption products work on two levels: Level one is laptops and desktop PCs: level two is a company's servers and databases.
Tip: Encryption itself is a fairly simple technology. More difficult is finding a system that can keep track of the thousands of "keys" (electronic codes) needed to unlock data. Large corporate customers are investing in more easily managed public key infrastructure (PKI) systems, but choices are still limited and costs are high.
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Protegrity (Private)
Secure.Data
www.protegrity.com
Utimaco Safeware (Frankfurt: UTIG)
SafeGuard
http://www.utimaco.com/ |
| Disaster Recovery Services |
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If your California office were to slide into the ocean tomorrow, would your business survive? Businesses must determine acceptable levels of risk and cost. Disaster recovery services start with remote backup of data and can extend to entire office relocation.
Tip: Whether your business can sustain an outage for 72 hours or only overnight has dramatic cost implications. (Day-to-day storage is a different issue; see "Data Storage & Management," below.)
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Comdisco (CDO)
Availability Solutions
www.comdisco.com
IBM (IBM)
Business Continuity and Recovery Services
http://www.brs.ibm.com/
SunGard (SDS)
SunGard Recovery Services
www.sungard.com |
Web Applications
This software manages the public face of your online business. Web applications display information, gather and aggregate information from business software, authenticate users, and complete online transactions.
| The Technologies |
Market Leaders |
| Web Server Software |
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These programs are the hamburger flippers of the Internet: They deliver all the files that make up every web page. Choosing Web server software is no longer a strategic decision for most firms; it's often included free of charge with an application server (see next item).
Tip: The Web server is now considered just another operating system feature, like printing and saving.
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Apache (nonprofit)
www.apache.org
Microsoft (MSFT)
Internet Information Server
www.microsoft.com
Sun Microsystems (SUNW) iPlanet (subsidiary) iPlanet Web Server
www.iplanet.com |
| Application Server Software |
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The electronic gofer for users of a company's big applications and databases. Application server software is the next generation platform upon with emerging "Web services" will eventually be based.
Tip: Microsoft's .Net platform will soon compete as an application server with other Java-based application servers. .Net's support for multiple languages and low entry costs are becoming attractive to many IT shops.
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BEA Systems (BEAS)
WebLogic 6.1
www.bea.com
Borland (BORL)
AppServer 4.5
www.borland.com
IBM (IBM)
WebSphere
http://www.ibm.com/ |
| Enterprise Portal Software |
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Portal software pulls together information from partners and the far-flung corners of your business to create a customized electronic "dashboard" for business partners, customers, and employees.
Tip: Deal sizes for portal software continue to grow, despite the IT slump. Pricing tends to hover near $100 to $200 per "seat" (user) in mid- to high-volume portals, and near $50 per seat for deployments of more than 100,000 seats. |
Plumtree (Private)
Corporate Portal
http://www.plumtree.com/
SAP (SAP)
SAP Portals
http://www.sapportals.com/
Epicentric (Private)
Foundation Server 4.0
www.epicentric.com
IBM (IBM)
Portal Server 1.2
http://www.ibm.com/ |
| Integration Software |
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The electronic lingua franca that parses data between machines and whole businesses, Inter-Enterprise Integration software (IEI) serves as a bridge between your business and your partners. Likewise, Enterprise Application INtegration (EAI) software moves data between a company's internal systems.
Tip: If you need IEI, you'll likely need EAI to do it right: before your servers start talking to other businessses, they should be talking to each other. |
IBM (IBM)
WebSphere Host Integration Solution
http://www.ibm.com/
SeeBeyond (SBYN)
e-Xchange eBI Suite
www.seebeyond.com
Tibco Software (TIBX)
ActiveEnterprise
www.tibco.com
Vitria (VITR)
Businessware
www.vitria.com
WebMethods (WEBM)
Integration Platform
www.webmethods.com |
| Content Management |
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These software packages allow companies to manage online content, from catalogs to product specifications. This will become more critical as electronic media proliferate to include not just the Web but also handheld computers, smart phones, andinteractive television.
Tip: Make sure this software works well with your application server software and other Web technology. |
Documentum (DCTM)
4i WCM Edition
www.documentum.com
Interwoven (IWOV)
Team Site 5.5
www.interwoven.com
Stellent (STEL)
Content Management 5.0
www.stellent.com
Vignette (VIGN)
Content Suite V6
www.stellent.com
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Data Storage & Management
Deep inside every e-business lie its storage and database systems, which need to be accessed, managed, and protected around the clock.
| The Technologies |
Market Leaders |
| Storage Systems |
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Today's businesses are amassing data in staggering quantities. That has made storage systems-refrigerator-size boxes housing an array of hard drives or magnetic tapes-a must for big companies and big government alike.
Tip: Pricing for a complete storage package often dwarfs the expense of the server hardware. |
Compaq (CPQ)
StorageWorks
www.compaq.com
EMC (EMC)
Networked Storage
www.emc.com
Hitachi (HIT)
Freedom Storage
www.hds.com
IBM (IBM)
TotalStorage
http://www.ibm.com/ |
| Database Software |
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Database software creates and manages all forms of data, including text, graphics, sound, and video, to be called up by various applications-from application server software to heavy-duty ERP platforms.
Tip: Oracle remains the dominant player with the Unix platform, but for large-scale data warehousing, IBM is the best choice.
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IBM (IBM)
DB2 Universal Database (DB2 UDB)
http://www.ibm.com/
Microsoft (MSFT)
SQL Server 2000
www.microsoft.com
Oracle (ORCL)
Oracle9i Database
www.oracle.com |
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