Which are the technologies being used by CIOs for their IT projects? We
scanned through the detailed audit forms we'd received for the 105 projects to
find out. Any large IT project comprises of some common elements, like a
database server, OS, web and application server. We checked what the various
project heads were using within these elements.
Favorite Databases
Here, Microsoft's SQL Server was the most popular database server used in IT
projects, followed by Oracle. Within SQL Server itself, we found that a majority
of the projects were based on SQL Server 2000, followed by SQL Server 2005. In
Oracle, the users were nearly split equally between Oracle 9i and 10G versions.
MySQL was the third most favorite database, followed by IBM's DB/2 and a few
one-off cases like PostgreSQL, MS Access, etc.
Favorite development platforms
There were no surprises in this one. Java and .NET continue to remain the
favorite platforms. However, what's important to note here is the sheer variety
of options available within each platform. For instance, within the .NET
framework itself, you can use C#, VB, Visual Studio, ASP and even JavaScript and
Java based web services. Here again, ASP.NET was the most commonly used platform
and VB with .NET was the next favorite. The Java platform also has many options
to choose from, like J2EE, Java Server Pages based on the Struts framework, the
various JDKs, etc. We found the usage of J2EE mostly in the business process
management and automation projects, and from the banking and manufacturing
segments. JavaScript is being used for monitoring and management projects and
business process automation projects, besides the usual portals and websites.
The JSP Struts framework finds application in CRM solutions. PHP was the third
most popular platform for the IT projects we received. One interesting use that
we found of PHP was in the digital entertainment industry, wherein it was use to
device the front end to a render farm app.
Favorite App Servers
IBM Websphere was the most popular application server amongst the projects
we received, followed by Tomcat and one-off cases like Pramati, WebLogic, etc.
Websphere was used for business process management and automation projects,
mobility, and online portal solutions.
Favorite Web Servers
There are no surprises in this one. IIS was the most commonly used web
server in the IT projects we received, followed by Apache.
Other technologies and applications
We received quite a few ERP implementations this time, and most of them were
either SAP or MS Dynamics Navision. Besides these, we found ample usage of blade
servers, dual and quad core servers, high-end storage boxes from HP, IBM, and
NetApp. Most of the servers were based on the x86 platform, and some were RISC
based.