Top of Mind: Middleware2020

Last week we hosted Middleware2020: A Virtual Forum on the Future of Middleware and we invite you to view the full replay of the forum by going to http://www.redhat.com/middleware2020. From the positive response we had from hosting the forum, middleware seems to be on the top of everyone’s mind.

IT departments that already have deployed, or are looking to deploy middleware solutions want to know how the leading vendors and developers see the technology developing over the next ten years. This was the question that the virtual forum set out to discuss. Through presentations from leaders at Accenture, Adobe, The Eclipse Foundation, Google, HP and Red Hat; we attempted to bring a diverse set of thought leaders together to spark a larger conversation on this topic; consistent with our belief that the innovation that will shape the next ten years is beyond the reach of any one company, but rather will be created by people working together.

Red Hat’s CTO and Vice President of Worldwide Engineering, Brian Stevens moderated the day-long conference and remarked on the reach and rapid innovation curve of middleware technologies, and Red Hat’s Sr. Director for Middleware Engineering, Dr. Mark Little offered an insightful briefing on the intersection of middleware and cloud computing. To hear Mark’s full presentation click here, http://www.redhat.com/middleware2020.

The large and diverse audience that tuned into our virtual forum gave us an idea about how the marketplace as a whole rates the importance of this topic. There were participants from as far away as South Africa and Saudi Arabia, Peru and Finland and virtually everywhere in between. Across the globe we see companies interested in the future direction of middleware technologies and how it can strategically help them scale their business to meet the demands of the global economy.

Just as we saw interest in this topic across a diverse set of regions, Middleware2020 drew participants from a diverse set of industries, including banking, investment firms, large global retail chains, telecommunications providers, travel booking services, health care and insurance, government entities, mobile device manufacturers, aerospace engineering and appliance manufacturers - just to name a few.

One thing that seems apparent to us is that as a topic set, middleware continues to gain interest as more and more companies take advantage of these technologies to help drive their businesses forward, scale up and create additional value for their customers. Join us as we continue to spark the conversation around this topic by viewing presentations from the forum at http://www.redhat.com/middleware2020, and stay tuned for future virtual forums on middleware.

To learn more about JBoss Enterprise Middleware and to hear from more leaders and customers join us at the Red Hat Summit & JBoss World at the Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center in Boston, June 22-25, 2010. Click here to subscribe to our business newsletter and stay up-to-date on the latest JBoss Enterprise Middleware developments.