Table of contents

CeBit 2004: Optimistic but careful

CeBit 2004 in numbers

The state of the German IT sector

Focus on SMEs and compliance

Technology trends 2004

Going off-shore: it is a trend but sometimes a bridge too far

Technology trends 2004: software development

Sun Microsystems: a new version of Java (Java 2, version 1.5, codename: Tiger) is expected to roll out in 2004. Along with the new version new APIs will also come to life, specifically the Java Platform Profiling API and the Application Profiling API. More support is expected for XML and web services which will most probably materialize in the Java API Update for XML (JAXP), the XML Digital sign API and the XML Digital encrypting APIs.

IBM: J2EE and web services - IBM is actively supporting open source development and tools. One of the major project is the ECLIPSE Project (www.eclipse.org). The Eclipse Project is an open source software development project dedicated to providing a robust, full-featured, commercial-quality, industry platform for the development of highly integrated tools. The project will build on the base eclipse platform to provide a set of common frameworks and services to allow tool developers to easily build highly integrated tools that work with virtually any web application server that supports the J2EE specification.

Portability – technology is developed by IBM’s Pervasive division. This includes speech and smart card technology. This latter is specifically for financial institutions and the health care industry.

Microsoft: Speech server is expected to be released. A new version of SQL Server, code named “Yukon” is in the planning since the first release of SQL Server had been already four years ago. It also means that significant changes can be expected. The company is preparing to release the 3rd version of Visual Studio .Net and the .Net Framework – code named “Whidbey”.

Nokia: in 2004 the new release of the Series 40 Developer Platform 2.0 with Java support is expected. This is in response to the volume of devices that all support MIDP 2.0 (Mobile Information Device Profile) and the three key JSRs (Java Specification Requests): Wireless Messaging API, the Multimedia API, and the Bluetooth API.

LINUX: last year several local governments in Europe opted for Linux or started to evaluate Linux solutions. Linux and Linux solutions had a significant presence at CeBit 2004. More and more companies offer solutions for both Windows and Linux. Open source solutions are not seen as the cheap DIY option for small enterprises. Open source databases, not least because of IBM, Oracle, Sun support, made their way to corporate data centers.