Is there an application server like approach available for Perl and how do Perl developers manage transactions and authentication and other activities thought to be only managed by J2EE and proprietary solutions such as SAP.

From an J2EE online Tutorial down at java.sun.com:

Normally, thin-client multitiered applications are hard to write because they involve many lines of intricate code to handle transaction and state management, multithreading, resource pooling, and other complex low-level details. ... Because you do not have to develop these services yourself, you are free to concentrate on solving the business problem at hand.

This can be done in pure perl using packages and POE components. I have never done so myself since I use modperl to maintain compiled packages ready to answer requests. Probably, there are other methods to perform the same job and probably they are a lot better than their Java counterparts.

The problem here is just political. You can not expect a firm to trust and use perl; since it is not backed by the institution that produces it (what institution ?). That is usually the same "marketing" problem of all OSS projects. Apache is one of the greatest OSS beasts around that made it to the top because it has no serious competitors.

On the bright side, perl has one advantage over non-OSS competitors (as long as they remain non-OSS). A non OSS software bundle is sustained by a company. If that company fails to support it properly, their product's marketability may weaken. On the other hand, Perl has no real roots (just imaginary ones) Perl has an unlimited number of people (and small companies) that devote time to improve it. If one individual person (or company) ceases to do so, there are numerous others that keep up the effort.

The laws of evolution state that only the best survive. Roaches are not able to defend themselves against us, the cunning humans, but are very adaptable. No matter how many you kill, or how much insecticide you use, they always survive. Ever seen a mighty, ferocious dinosaur running around the house ? ($roach->strength > $dinosaur->strength)