Middleware: Computing's unsung hero
Published: 01 Feb 2005 17:20 GMT
A technical achievement comparable to the "creation of the internet and the PC" or even "the Tower of Babel in reverse". Not the kind of hyperbole you'd normally associate with the glamour-challenged world of middleware but in the case of IBM's MQ WebSphere it may well be warranted.
Further proof of the software's importance to the current computing landscape came at the end of January when the middleware platform become the first piece of software to warrant its own exhibit at London's Science Museum.
The new display (pictured here), unveiled last week, features a giant CD to celebrate the work of engineers at IBM's Hursley Laboratory near Winchester, who developed the WebSphere MQ -- message/queue -- software.
In June last year the IBM engineers won the Royal Academy of Engineering's MacRobert Award -- and a cool £50,000 to share between them -- for their work on Websphere MQ. Previous engineering marvels to win the prestigious prize include the Harrier Jump-Jet engine and the roof structure of the Millennium Dome.
Dr Tilly Blyth, curator of computing and information at the Science Museum says that while the museum has displayed digital art and technology before, this is the first time it has installed an exhibit purely about software.
She says the MacRobert award helped to highlight a shift in the way that computer science is currently perceived by the scientific establishment and the general public. "We can no longer afford to represent computing as the pursuit of lone individuals. With the spread of networks and applications working across them we can now see computing as a truly social device, enabling the proliferation of services and communication across multiple platforms."
Launched in 1994, WebSphere MQ is now used by over 10,000 customers, including more than 80 per cent of companies in the Fortune 100. Primarily it allows systems to exchange messages even though they may have different, and potentially incompatible, operating systems. Formerly known as MQ Series, the software has been in development for over 10 years and provides automatic application integration between multiple platforms without the need for custom coding
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