"The flux nature of all things here." --Barrow

It's no secret to any of us that nearly all the elements of structure within the field of IT, or business in general, are in a constant state of flux. The rate at which this change occurs seems (whether true or not) to be increasing.

One of the most pressing challenges, before companies, departments and teams, is the determination of how best to embrace emerging and significant technologies in a way which neither forfeits the existing structures upon which the core business functions depend nor becomes such a distraction to resources for training, retooling or conversion that IT productivity is compromised.

Leaders within the IT discipline must keep an eye on the 'edge' whether it be one which cuts or bleeds. These individuals must make time to leave the comfort of their camp, scan the horizon and reach viewpoints which permit keener vision of what's ahead.

In a recent interview with InfoWorld, Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly & Associates) said that their publishing venture has historically tracked the hacker element to determine what's just beyond the edge.

Currently most enterprise level endeavors experience the gravitational pull of the thing called 'web services'. This quest, beyond the obvious desired outcomes of broad accessibility and interoperability, relies on sub technologies or protocols like XML, SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL. And at a higher level, platforms compete for favor. I expect that most developers have their hands full just working the rows in their little corner of the vineyard, let alone maintain any grand scale comprehension of all that is going on around them.

The relatively recent industry best practice of participating in standards bodies, or at least adhering to the fruit of their labors, is now complicated and compromised by the seemingly urgent advance of allied but proprietary ventures that masquerade as standard bearers. One writer called the primary backers of WS-I 'benevolent dictators'. What Gregory the Great intended when he coined this phrase in the 6th century, was, I think a little different than what we have here. In other words, I'd go lighter on the adjective, heavier on the noun.

Watching the outcome of the horse race called information technology advance is, if nothing else, lots of fun.