Middleware integration platforms: A new challenge to business models of ICT companies: Unleashing the business potential of horizontalization

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has the potential to transform business on different levels. Changes in the ICT market, the technology and its dynamics, and of customers´ demands and needs will challenge the current business models of ICT companies. If middleware integration platforms integrate presently isolated networks, organizations may have to re-define their role and their business scope; especially if the assumptions hold true that middleware platforms foster disintermediation and enable new players to enter the market. In this paper, the business potential of reusing sensing, actuation and processing services for different applications - termed horizontalization - is described. It provides insights to the design and architecture of middleware integration platforms designed to enable horizontal services and gives examples of e-business opportunities that can be realized on top of middleware integration platforms.