Application server vendors and enterprise application integration
(EAI) companies are turning up the volume in the debate over whose
approach works best for connecting disparate IT systems and new
applications.
Today Iona Technologies will roll out the latest version of its
application server platform, Orbix E2A ASP 6.0, which features a
host of services to help developers create application harmony
across diverse middleware and messaging technologies within their
enterprise.
At the EAI end of the spectrum, webMethods last week released plans
to bundle open-source JBoss application server into webMethods 6,
the latest version of its flagship integration platform.
Iona's ultimate goal with ASP 6.0 is to prime enterprise software
assets for integration within a services-oriented architecture.
Among its new features is greater support for Web services-enabling
existing applications and components.
"You can think of [ASP 6.0] as a way to build the building blocks
for integrated systems and services," said Iona director of product
marketing Don Roedner. "It is about making it easier to combine
things and let multitechnology systems be deployed with specific
qualities of service."
Features in ASP 6.0 include a security service that provides a
single-point of integration for the mix of enterprise application
security functions - such as authentication and authorisation -
that are in play across Corba, J2EE, Web services and mainframe
systems. The service also allows Corba and J2EE messages to cross
firewalls securely when, for example, a Web service request is
triggered externally. The capability is expected to banish the need
to hard code every transaction step directly into the
application.
ASP 6.0 also provides a transparent bridge for applications running
on JMS and Corba Notification messaging. The platform now sports a
single point for managing, installing, configuring and tuning the
multitude of transactions and objects throughout a mixed enterprise
environment, which gives users greater "visibility" into their
applications.
"Iona might have been taking their Corba base a bit for granted
with their Java initiatives, Web services and integration products,
but [ASP 6.0] looks to be a way for them to generate more revenue
from that installed base now, while also bringing them more up to
date with Web services and J2EE," said Shawn Willett, principal
analyst at Current Analysis.
Meanwhile, with JBoss, webMethods is enabling J2EE-based components
to run directly in the integration server, as opposed to having to
call out to an app server as required with earlier versions of
webMethods platform. This unification will serve to boost overall
performance of webMethods 6 while also allowing developers to write
both integration code and application logic from within a single
environment, according to webMethods chief technology officer Jim
Green.
WebMethods' bundling of JBoss, which it plans to absorb into
webMethods 6 next year, is meant to hammer home its notion that
that integration platform should serve as the core element of the
infrastructure, feeding all other layers in the enterprise stack,
according to Green. That position runs counter to that of players
such as BEA, which believe development via the app server come
first, serving as the foundation on which the integration
capabilities are then added.
"The big J2EE application server vendors are betting on getting
more converts by going down the road of integration," said Eric
Austvold, industry analyst at Aberdeen Group. But these and similar
efforts by traditional EAI vendors will face steep competition from
the likes of Microsoft, who is exploiting XML and a lower-cost
integration environment in BizTalk Server to creep into the market,
he said.
Iona's ASP 6.0 will be generally available in 45 days in three
editions: J2EE Technology, Standard, and Enterprise Edition. Prices
start at $495 (£312) per developer licence and $5,000 (£3,146) per
CPU deployment.
WebMethods 6 is available with existing versions using an adapter
to make the connection to JBoss. A subsequent point release in
early 2003 will integrate the app server directly into the
integration platform.