One benefit of running executive education courses is that I get to talk with a large number of IT executives in a forum that encourages us to think about issues. Last month, I helped run one at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that included more than 50 IT executives. During meals and coffee breaks, we spent a good deal of time talking about outsourcing and Web services.

One benefit of running executive education courses is that I get to talk with a large number of IT executives in a forum that encourages us to think about issues. Last month, I helped run one at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that included more than 50 IT executives. During meals and coffee breaks, we spent a good deal of time talking about outsourcing and Web services.

I was trying to explain the changing middleware scene to a friend recently and realized just how complex it is. Let's see if I can do it for you.

The arrival of Web services has been heralded with great fanfare, and the noise -- as usual -- has drowned out the real message. The publish/subscribe metaphor, where one publishes a service -- such as a well-defined business process -- and others subscribe to that service, offers a new take on process integration and automation.

Last week I discussed the growing importance of content management for some industries (" Content Management and XML," 3 July 2002). In essence, content management involves breaking documents into their constituent elements and storing each element so that it can be maintained and reused independent of the document for which is was originally created.

The revolution of the Internet has had a great impact on the way that business is done, people communicate, and information is shared. Today it is possible to order just about any product over the information superhighway, but the fear over security reduces the Internet's potential.

The revolution of the Internet has had a great impact on the way that business is done, people communicate, and information is shared. Today it is possible to order just about any product over the information superhighway, but the fear over security reduces the Internet's potential.

I realize, of course, that predicting the future is a dangerous business. As management theorist Peter Drucker has written, "Forecasting is not a respectable human activity and not worthwhile beyond the shortest of periods" ( Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices).

I realize, of course, that predicting the future is a dangerous business. As management theorist Peter Drucker has written, "Forecasting is not a respectable human activity and not worthwhile beyond the shortest of periods" ( Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices).

The Internet, and the emerging "hypernet" of networked applications and communication devices, are the backbone of the knowledge economy. Networked technologies are accelerating the shift in the economic foundation from the physical to the non-physical, changing the world conversation and allowing the natural pattern of organizations to emerge.