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 TEST CENTER P-to-P promises to streamline business processes By Maggie Biggs , For InfoWorld Test Center March 29, 2001 Although an emerging technology, peer-to-peer has a place in strategic planning
 THINK PEER-TO-PEER communication is a new technology? Think again. If you've made a phone call today, you've experienced p-to-p communication firsthand. Yet, the idea of inserting p-to-p technologies into the backbone of business applications is a new one that has the potential to deliver significant advantages.Traditionally, p-to-p refers to networked hardware arrangements in which all systems have identical capabilities. But p-to-p is now evolving from a hardware-oriented term to an application-related concept. P-to-p applications can act as clients or as servers. They usually execute outside the Web browser, and new users can easily link with others. The applications also provide tools for creating new content or adding new functionality on the fly. P-to-p innovations challenge many of the constructs we've had in business computing environments. We've supported business processes using client/server applications (whether Web-enabled or not), but p-to-p promises to make those processes more efficient by reducing data duplication and increasing productivity. By bringing service components and data closer to their producers and consumers, we eliminate much of the overhead associated with managing workflow. P-to-p is sure to be overhyped, but it's not some magic pill that will solve business process issues. The technology is in an emerging state, and issues such as standards adherence, security, and manageability will need to be resolved before it becomes viable for enterprise. Major platform initiatives that support p-to-p, including Sun Microsystems JXTA (short for juxtaposition) and Microsoft .NET, are now just emerging. Other vendors, such as NextPage, are devoting their time to using p-to-p to support distributed content management. Affiniti is working to support object-oriented p-to-p messaging. When it becomes more widely implemented, p-to-p has the potential to change major business processes. For example, imagine your supply-chain operation as several p-to-p groups of employees, customers, and business components all piped together. Rather than duplicate data to complete business transactions, authorized communities of people or groups of application components could execute the transactions in real time. You might also consider leveraging p-to-p-based solutions for processes such as CRM (customer relationship management), collaboration, knowledge sharing, or locating goods or services. P-to-p likely will affect online auctions and trading exchanges. Within the company walls, p-to-p might be used to facilitate software distribution or the dissemination of company standards or news. Today, no one company can claim to have a clear lead in the p-to-p space. Certainly, the technology looks promising for improving business processes, and business strategists should keep an eye on p-to-p as it matures and stand ready to adopt it once it reaches wider viability. Return to the Test Center In-Focus: Hot new technologies Contributing Editor Maggie Biggs has more than 15 years of business and IT experience. SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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