Network Computing: Get Ready for the Next Wave

Is client/server old news already? Yes and no. What client/server began - a movement toward a distributed computing world - will certainly move forward. And the movement, currently referred to as network computing, is already underway.

With network computing, users can go beyond simply sharing data internally and enter into a universally connected global computing environment. This has big implications for businesses both large and small better customer interaction, easy global reach, and a true competitive edge.

Key to network computing is keeping information and application processing located within the network, allowing the broadest possible access and sharing through a variety of heterogeneous computing resources. The Internet, offering both reach and compatibility, is crucial to simplify access to this network-based information.

IBM continues to develop technology to exploit network computing for the benefit of its customers. Via such systems as the IBM Global Network (IGN) - which manages more than 5,000 host-based networks and thousands of LANs for more than 25,000 businesses and government agencies - and its newly announced European VSAT satellite communications network component, IBM is laying the foundation for a variety of network computing solutions.

In the meantime, get used to hearing less about client/server and more about the ubiquitous network. The next wave has arrived!

Note

This article was previously published in IBM's Personal Systems Advantage, Summer 1996. It contains excerpts from an article titled Network-centric computing, by Todd Watson in IBM's Software Quarterly, Volume 3, Number 1, 1996.

Reprint Courtesy of International Business Machines Corporation, © International Business Machines Corporation