Complex event processing: still on the launch pad

by James Kobielus, Network World, 08/16/07

Complex event processing has a sleek, shiny, space-age allure. CEP has been blinking on the IT industry’s “next big thing” radar for quite a while, promising business agility through continuous correlation and visualization of multiple event-streams. Event-driven application architectures are becoming more important for modern business, as the volume of time-sensitive, real-time data that enterprise and carrier networks must process, store and manage continues to expand.

However, CEP has yet to launch into the stratosphere of mainstream enterprise applications. …… But rare is the CEP application that supports the everyday needs of the average knowledge worker. CEP is still predominantly deployed as a stovepipe for specialized, albeit mission-critical, applications. …… None of which is to imply that the CEP market is not buzzing with activity or growing apace. The past several years have seen the entry of many promising, pure-play CEP vendors, including Agent Logic, Aleri, AptSoft, Coral8, Esper, GemStone, Kaskad, LeanWay, RiverGlass, SeeWhy, Syndera, StreamBase and Vhayu. ……

We expect to see Business Objects, SAS, Cognos, Oracle/Hyperion, Microsoft, Information Builders and MicroStrategy venture in the CEP arena in the next one to two years. Likewise, it’s very likely that a soon-to-be-independent Teradata, which has taken the lead in real-time data warehousing, will snatch up a CEP vendor to build out its real-time BI portfolio. SOA middleware vendors will expand their CEP capabilities in order to offer event-driven architecture as an alternative or supplement to SOA.  …. Read the back and forth arguments and final prediction