The world has changed. With the Internet, business applications have requirements that didn’t exist 10 years ago. Today, partners, customers, and even employees expect direct access to information about your company and its products. As the world changes, your technology needs change with it. Technologists have worked hard over the past few years to make it easier for organizations to keep up with these changes. Out of this work two major application development models have emerged: Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) from Sun Microsystems and Microsoft .NET. While these two models have similar underlying architectures, their respective market directions are very different. J2EE utilizes open standards and community input in setting its direction. Currently, .Net’s focus is set on the Windows 2000/XP platform. These differences have spawned an ongoing debate: Do you use J2EE or .NET? As a manager you must be familiar with the underlying issues in order to make an informed decision.
