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 COLUMN
Taking a balanced look at standards MANY PSYCHOLOGISTS, ANTHROPOLOGISTS, and sociologists will tell you only a thin veneer of civilization separates humankind from its baser instincts. And if the that veneer no longer helps us survive, it will disappear faster than you can say Web services. For a novelistic understanding of the problem, read or recall Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
"Everybody else is just a shade of gray," says Michael Barrett, chair of the Liberty Alliance, one of those gray organizations. So if the government didn't ask these groups to form, who did? And why did they form? If organizations as varied as the IETF, W3C, WS-I, OMG, OMA, Wi-Fi Alliance, SNIA, and the hundreds of others are all producing specifications of one kind or another, you have to ask yourself to what end? To help your company survive? Certainly this might be a byproduct. But if William Golding is right, it is doubtful that survival of your company is at the core of their being. Think of all those gray standards organizations as military alliances used to increase a company's sphere of influence and/or to keep a rival group's influence in check. I only have to cite some of the current battles taking place in IT to prove the point. In Web services, the Liberty Alliance includes everyone but Microsoft. In wireless, the WC3 and the OMA are at each other's throats. In voice technology there's SALT vs. VXML, with IBM and Microsoft spearheading rival standards. I come back to Michael Barrett, this time wearing his hat as vice president of Internet Strategy at American Express in New York, who has a different view. "We generally prefer vendor products based on standards but if [the standards] are flawed, we won't use them." This week's issue is dedicated to disruptive technology. Some of these technologies are well along and have even been put in neat little standards boxes. Others, such as Microsoft Office 11, leverage a standard process, XML. I think it is fair to say Microsoft is not an altruistic organization, but users receive the benefits of combining XML and Office nevertheless. Standards bodies are fine when they serve your needs, but remember that the high-tech industry moves forward by disruption. Handhelds coming in the back door, wireless rogue access points, open source, and Weblogs are just a continuation of the brief disruptive history of the PC industry. As we start the new year, let's not forget our roots. Follow the standards wars and join organizations to help influence the decisions that will have an impact on your company and your business. But as the 10 disruptive technologies selected in this issue assert themselves in your day-to-day business, don't be afraid to embrace change when it is appropriate. Ephraim Schwartz is editor at large at InfoWorld. Contact him at ephraim_schwartz@infoworld.com.  RELATED SUBJECTS  Web TechnologiesSPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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