CORBA: E-Commerce and Distributed Computing

Major Players

One major player in CORBA is obviously its creator, OMG.  Founded in May 1989 by eight companies (3Com Corporation, American Airlines, Canon, Inc., Data General, Hewlett-Packard, Philips Telecommunications N.V., Sun Microsystems and Unisys Corporation), OMG began independent operations as a non-profit corporation. Through OMG's commitment to developing technically excellent, commercially viable and vendor independent specifications for the software industry, the consortium now includes over 800 members, including IBM, Compaq, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, BEA, and many others. Developers of software tools and applications which incorporate CORBA compliance into their software are also major players. 

Implementers of CORBA-based solutions are also important players.  Systems integrators such as IBM, Compaq, and Andersen Consulting are often in a position to make recommendations regarding Information Technology architectures and strategies.  These firms have the ability to influence their client toward CORBA, or possibly other distributed computing standards such as DCE and COM.

The firms and organizations that adapt CORBA are also significant players. 

Users

The users of vendor software and the employees of firms and organizations are considered the end users of the applications which are founded on CORBA.  They likely do not understand, nor even care, about the complexities of the technology.  Their interests lie in the fact that such technologies allow them to operate seamlessly in the world of heterogeneous computer systems.