Software giant Compuware has announced a November launch for the
latest version of its Uniface development environment, containing
new Web-enabling software.
Targeting the business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce market, the
principal aim of Uniface Eight is what the company calls business
process automation. This allows organisations to model their
processes and resources, then modify them when deployment takes
place so that rapidly changing market conditions can be
accommodated.
The product works across all major databases and hardware
platforms to offer end-to-end integration of the supply chain. With
the strength of the market increasing, B2B customer relationship
management solutions look likely to become more prominent as more
companies try for a slice of the pie.
Inter-company B2B links demand support for a wide range of
protocols and to this end Uniface Eight has support for all the
major data exchange and presentation protocols, including open
standards such as XML, Wap and Corba as well as proprietary systems
like SAP, Microsoft's Soap and IBM's MQ Series.
A recent report from Bloor Research commended Uniface for its
ability to extend existing applications and develop new ones. The
product has a range of templates and reusable components that
developers can modify when they need to access particular types of
data.
Bloor analyst Mat Hanrahan said: "A Web-enabled business should
be able to cross-reference and manipulate data from all of its
platforms.
"Products that can quickly and efficiently make this happen must
have quality re-usable components and templates.
"In skilled hands, these tools can be used to effectively
integrate back-end legacy systems faster and less expensively than
solutions coded from scratch."
Uniface Eight is scheduled for release in November.