Letter From the Editor David McCoy - 19 December 2001 2002 is a beautifully symmetrical number (not until 2112 will there be another palindrome year), but for many, 2002 will be very ugly. Enterprises can expect the year to begin with slow sales, weakened consumer confidence, failure of partners, departure of suppliers and bankruptcy of customers who have yet to pay their bills. One way for enterprises to weather this complex economy is to take the best available advice and transform it into cogent action plans to be put in place in 2002. To that end, this Spotlight is a collection of the most salient advice, planning assumptions and observations about application integration and middleware that you (our clients) must incorporate in your 2002 planning cycle. As part of the larger Gartner effort to provide advice for 2002, this is one of many focused Spotlights aimed at your immediate needs.  Read more

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	Overview Application Integration and Middleware at the Crossroads 19 December 2001 David McCoy With product marketing and architectural targets emerging for 2003 through 2005, near-term scrambling will alter vendor strategies and enterprise purchasing processes beginning in 2002. Planners must react quickly.

The Enterprise Nervous System Arrives 17 December 2001 Roy Schulte   Yefim Natis   Jess Thompson The nature of the enterprise network is evolving from a low-function communication service to a high-function enterprise nervous system. This is changing application design and IS management practices in fundamental ways.		High- and Low-End Integration Middleware Battle Heats Up 17 December 2001 Roy Schulte The integration middleware market is changing rapidly. Low-end and limited-function integration products are expanding their capabilities to challenge the high-end, comprehensive integration suites for mainstream integration projects.
Business Process Management: Responding in 2002 13 December 2001 David McCoy BPM capabilities will change significantly through 2005, making proper planning in 2002 mandatory. Web services, business activity monitoring and organizational dynamics require vendor and user attention now.		Application Servers and Platforms: A Look Ahead 11 December 2001 Yefim Natis Most of today's leading application servers did not exist in 1996. What technology will lead application engineering practices in 2006, and what should users do today to ride the next wave of change?
Predictions for 2001-2003: Application Integration in IT Professional Services 17 December 2001 Michele Cantara Integration in the form of discrete projects is the area of IT professional services most severely impacted by the recession, growing 9 percent through 2002 and nearing 13 percent growth in 2003.		2002: Composite Applications Come of Age 18 December 2001 Massimo Pezzini New OLTP applications, combined with Web services development, will make composite applications more popular. Technology evolution and tools maturation will facilitate the adoption of this form of integration.
Predictions for 2001 Through 2003 for the Application Integration and Middleware Markets 10 December 2001 Joanne Correia The key market segments for 2001 through 2003 in the application integration and middleware markets will grow by only 12 percent in 2001 vs. 49 percent in 2000.		The Platform for Agile Integrated Applications: Still Evolving 13 December 2001 Jim Sinur Despite the slowdown of traditional markets, the growth of business modeling and business rules markets will accelerate to meet enterprises' desire for more real-time responsiveness from their technology-based systems.
A Look Into the Future of Integration Brokers 12 December 2001 Jess Thompson Today's integration broker suites have been evolving since 1996. We examine the future of the products and look at the strategies that will be implemented using those products.		High-End Integration Suites Seek Mainstream Acceptance 17 December 2001 Roy Schulte Vendors of comprehensive integration suites are attempting to move from leading-edge to early majority mainstream customers by enhancing their products to support easier and faster application development and maintenance.
'Low End' Integration Middleware No Longer So Low End 12 December 2001 Roy Schulte Low-end and specialized "limited function" integration products are becoming less limited in their functions, in some cases, blurring the boundaries between themselves and the more expensive comprehensive integration suites.