The E-Mail Frontier: Emerging Markets and Evolving Technology

E-mail, the computer industry's most rapidly growing application, represents a new frontier in the world of communications. Organizations face a strategic imperative to buy or build robust messaging infrastructures that integrate e-mail and electronic commerce traffic. This strategic imperative is driven by globalization, the emergence of the information economy, and social changes which are in turn driving the "reinvention" of large organizations. This book explores the e-mail markets, both for private e-mail products and public e-mail services, noting how they are following industry and technology trends. It describes e-mail technology and standards, with extensive coverage of LAN e-mail, host e-mail, and e-mail integration environments as well as public e-mail (X.400 and Internet) and directory services. It also provides practical advice to users on strategies for deploying e-mail networks.
Highlights discusses the strategic importance of e-mail and electronic commerce to organizations; examines the booming, competitive private messaging marketplace, introducing the key players by market categories; explains X.400, Internet-based public service, and X.500 directory standards and architecture; covers LAN e-mail and e-mail integration backbone products from vendors; discusses EDI, work flow automation, and electronic commerce technologies in the context of e-mail; and advises users on effective organizational and technical e-mail usage and integration strategies.

About Daniel J. Blum

Daniel J. Blum, a principal at Rapport Communication, has been active in open networking research and development since the early 1980s. He is well-known as a writer, educator, and consultant on integrated messaging and directory services. He has worked with key standards development committees, implemented communications systems, conducted extensive surveys of industry products, and advised industry and government users on the planning, architecture, procurement, and deployment of modern networks and value-added messaging services based on multiple technologies.

About David M. Litwack

David M. Litwack is managing director of Open Systems Institutes International and president of DML Associates, consultancies specializing in education and training for open systems technologies. He has over twenty years experience in telecommunications and data communications including packet switching, electronic messaging, directory services, and testing and certification.

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