As organizations expand and affiliate, their enterprise applications become more complex, distributed, and integrated with other applications both inside the enterprise and beyond. Forward-looking enterprises want applications that offer an extensive range of capabilities plus the ability to reach a dispersed community of people who are using a variety of devices. This is a significant challenge.
New tools and techniques have emerged to make the job easier, and some come from unexpected sources. The network has gradually become an important provider of architectural services. Classic transport networks have been optimized to increase throughput, availability, and configurability and are increasingly application-aware. But many enterprise architects still think of the network layer as mere "plumbing" and remain unaware of the new application-related, value-add services that today's network can provide.
This blueprint will introduce enterprise architects (EAs) to the expanded capabilities residing in the network and provide guidance on taking best advantage of them. It includes:
- A brief description of reach and range
- The concept of network-based services
- A catalog of application delivery network-based services
- Name of service
- Description
- List of services and APIs
- Special considerations
- How to apply these services to you architectural practice
Any enterprise architect whose organization is looking for high-demand, multimedia, integrated applications should become acquainted with application delivery services based in the network. The capabilities found there will almost certainly play an important part in the enterprise architectures of the future.
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