illumineX can help you migrate to scalable technologies based on open standards like Java, XML, and SOAP. If you have applications written in ASP or other technologies that only run on Windows/IIS, we can help you re-engineer them to run on more-secure systems like Apache running on Linux, Solaris, Mac OS X, or other Unix systems.
Given that IIS is one of the most popular web server platforms for businesses, why do we offer such a service? Turns out there is an increasing awareness in the industry of the importance of the security and performance constraints of IIS.
The Gartner Group, a popular source for business analysis of IT trends which has historically been "Microsoft friendly", recently issued a scathing condemnation of the Microsoft IIS web server platform. Gartner advises that, due to fundemenatal weakness in the security architecture of IIS, businesses should:
"immediately investigate alternatives to IIS, including moving Web applications to Web server software from other vendors, such as iPlanet and Apache."
Don't be surprised if you missed this report. The popular IT magazines that normally make extensive use of Gartner reports largely ignored this one.
But it was reported by The Register, an on-line IT newsmagazine that is not heavily dependant on a single advertising source, and which goes by the motto, "Biting the hand that feeds IT".
Despite being ignored by the mainstream press, who fear the wrath of a powerful monopoly, the report was discussed widely at various independent news outlets on the internet.
The few reports that did hit the mainstream IT press tended to emphasize the opinions of security "experts" who work at antivirus companies -- the same companies who profit from every new security hole in Windows, IE, and IIS.
Despite attempts to throw up a smokescreen, a paradigm shift is taking place in the industry, and a few quick press releases won't be able to stop it. Security holes are best fixed by the vendor, at the level of the architecture of the product. Barring vendor cooperation, they can be avoided by changing horses. Many business owners, possibly seeking better sleep at night, are doing just that.
According to a recent Netcraft survey, over a hundred thousand webmasters have followed this advice in October alone.
Surprisingly, despite significant migration of existing web servers to more secure platorms, IIS gained market share by about 2% during this period, apparently due to new IIS servers coming on line. We hope they remembered to budget admin time for patches!
Your business can move to more reliable, secure technologies for your web based services. illumineX can help.
Contact us to discuss your web application needs today.
illumineX can help you build iPhone applications for internal enterprise use, or for consumer use.
