Cape Clear Software will deliver the beta release of the upcoming
version of its Web services development suite.
The Cape Clear Suite, codenamed Generation 4 or G4, will be
available for beta download next week with the final release due to
launch at the end of November, said Annrai O'Toole, chief executive
officer of Cape Clear.
The latest release focuses on management and security functionality
that reflects the evolution of customers' needs around the
deployment of Web services in the enterprise, according to
O'Toole.
For example, initial user interest in Web services concerned
application development, such as taking existing Java code and
transforming it into a Web service. More recently, enterprises have
been relied on Web services standards as a way to ease their
integration problem.
Cape Clear Suite will have a comprehensive console interface from
which users can monitor, manage, and secure Web services, said
O'Toole. From that central point, users will be able to start up,
shut down, load-balance and conduct "hot" deployments of Web
services without taking down any other systems.
Users can also configure security parameters for Web services. Cape
Clear Suite will support integration with LDAP and other
directories to help control user access and authentication. From
the console, users can also change public keys and digital
certificate parameters for particular services.
"The end goal is to provide single sign-on for any Web service,"
said O'Toole.
Tie-ins to enterprise directories and messaging systems such as JMS
and MQSeries are based on customer demand that Web services somehow
help them exploit existing pieces of their IT infrastructure,
O'Toole explained.
Cape Clear Suite will also feature performance, usability and other
enhancements to the company's existing development and integration
platforms, Cape Studio and Cape Connect.
Among them is Studio's expanded XML Schema support to include
Swift, Acord, and other industry-specific schema standards. For its
part, Connect will now be integrated with MQSeries for more robust
messaging support.