About Software AG technology radar for IoT and Integration

Introduction

Technology Radars are everywhere. The format was made popular by Thoughtworks and has since been adopted by many organizations, for example by the CNCF.

Software AG’s Office of the CTO is continuously evaluating emerging trends and technologies. The Software AG Technology Radar for IoT and Integration is making a condensed version of the results publicly available. As the name suggests, the scope of this radar are technologies that Software AG considers interesting with regard to their impact on IoT (including analytics/value extraction) and Integration (including API Management).

Adoption

Like the original format, a recommendation is given for adopting the technologies, with four main levels:

Adopt This is a clear recommendation for our customers to adopt to the technology as we consider it to be a major contribution to success in the future, and a risk if companies ignore it.

Trial We assume the technology to be very useful for most. It should be evaluated in a trial project with manageable risk, to measure the specific value for a company, and in some cases also to rate its maturity.

Assess The technology has potential, and companies should evaluate its value for them. Adoption should depend on an individual cost/value/risk assessment.

Hold
Reduce For most companies, we recommend against this technology. Reasons may include a current lack of maturity, current little market adoption endangering sufficient future support, or that we currently see a better alternative. All of this can of course change over time.

Quadrants

Also like the original, we categorized the entries. For IoT and Integration, we chose the following quadrants:

Connectivity and Protocols

A key concern for both IoT and Integration, this category includes core protocols like MQTT, but also connectivity technology with impact on IoT/Integration, like 5G or LPWAN.

Information Management and Persistence

This category deals with managing and persisting information: Megatrends like Big Data, databases of special interest for IoT, data access technologies like GraphQL etc.

Analytics and Serving

Turning data into value is what Software AG is all about, and technologies contributing to this in the broadest sense are added to this category. It also covers the serving of the results, including dashboards, Augmented Reality etc.

Programming, Hosting, Operating

This category discusses topics around developing and operating software, with a focus on topics that are of particular interest for IoT and integration.

Relevance

As the radar is discussing IoT and Integration, we added a ‘relevance rating’ showing our assessment of the relevance of this technology for those two areas, with the rating levels

Fundamental
Significant
Limited
Peripheral

A technology not showing up on the radar does not mean that we consider it to be of low relevance.

Technology Detail Page

You assess the detail page by clicking on the technology in either the left-side navigation or the radar itself. The detail page is what sets this Technology Radar apart from others. We strive for brevity and clarity. The ‘Technology Summary’ chapter is rarely complete, and we avoid terms and abbreviations that only those understand who already are experts on the topic. We rather give a simple description that captures the essence of a topic.

Technology Radars are opinionated guides. While the ‘Technology Summary’ chapter avoids opinion, the subsequent chapters are definitely opinionated. In a world of continuous hype and exaggeration, we try to get down to the core value proposition, and we are not shy to give a cautious rating for technology if we are not convinced yet that it lives up to the promise.

The content of the further chapters depend on the technology, but we will typically evaluate the technology and have a look at the current level of adoption. Further optional chapters include a market adoption outlook, a discussion of the relevance for IoT and Integration (in cases where that is less than obvious), and some brief hints about how to adopt.

Feedback

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Safe Harbor Statement

All information contained in or referred to by the Tech Radar including summaries, appraisals, opinions, estimations, and forward looking statements, is based on the subjective beliefs of Software AG's CTO OFFICE. Any such statement or information reflects current views of Software AG with respect to past, current, and future events and results and are subject to risks and uncertainties. The actual situation and the evolution of technologies, events, or results may vary materially from those presented or projected here due to various factors within or outside Software AG.

Software AG assumes no warranty or representation, express or implied, directly or indirectly connected to the information and other material contained in or related to Software AG's Tech Radar. Software AG does not intend or assume any obligation to update the Tech Radar.