Middle children don’t get much attention— and that’s also true of middleware, according to the findings of a recently released study. In fact, lack of awareness is one of the main barriers to more rapid adoption of middleware, according to the findings.

TechNavio, a division of London-based Infiniti Research that reports on niche and emerging technologies, forecasts that the global application infrastructure and middleware market will continue to gain strength, at a compound annual growth rate of 7.2 percent through 2014. But the study finds that this sector might be stronger, if it had a higher profile in the profession and the press.

The term middleware is most commonly used for the software layer that lies between the operating system and the applications on each site of the system—enabling communication and management of data in distributed applications, such as the smart grid. Middleware provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system..

According to the report, the demand for middleware is greater than ever before, and service providers are looking for available resources and alternatives to meet this demand. There has been an increase in merger and acquisition activities, as well as in strategic alliances, among industry players—who are seizing extra market share and adding specific domain knowledge to their arsenals in this manner. In addition, acquisitions are helping competitors to extend their delivery capabilities and gain better access to the growing market.

To date, the key vendors dominating this market space include Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle Corp.; IBM Corp, with headquarters in Armonk, New York; Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft (News - Alert) Corp., Software AG of Darmstadt, Germany; and TIBCO Software Inc , with headquarters in Palo Alto (News - Alert), California.

“Middleware solutions are the key to maximizing the processes and applications that drive business,” according to one of the study’s authors, who added,  “By enabling integration of applications, services, and platforms, an effective middleware design can help deliver several benefits. It [facilitates] the conception and provisioning of services, processes, and linked assets to enhance service reuse. This significantly reduces lag between the business needs and IT deliverables.”

TechNavio's report, Global Application Infrastructure and Middleware Market 2011-2014, covers the Americas, and the EMEA and APAC regions; it also covers the market landscape and its growth prospects in the coming years.

In related news, utility industry professionals who want to know how middleware can help them to implement and operate an efficient and reliable smart grid, can click here to register for a webinar, “How Oracle (News - Alert) Fusion Middleware Can Address Data Challenges OEMs & ISVs Face Designing and Deploying Smart Grid Solutions”, scheduled for Tuesday, April 3, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. (GMT) in the United Kingdom; 10 a.m., on the U.S. East Coast (EDT). 

The session will cover how “data from the edge”—generated by meters, sensors, devices, substations, and mobile data terminals; and bound for back-end systems—can be handled with the aid of Oracle technologies, to reap the most benefits for the consumer, the environment, and utilities, themselves. Registration is free.