IBM has updated its WebSphere Business Integration
Server software for release later this month, along with two new
add-on modules based on technology IBM acquired in September
through its purchase of Holosofx.
IBM's WebSphere Business Integration software is intended to
link corporate applications and business processes, which the
product can model and automate. WebSphere Business Integration
Server version 4.2 adds extended Web services functionality,
including new features for converting human workflows tracked by
the system into Web services.
For example, a supply-chain approvals process could be modelled
by the system and exposed as a web service, allowing users to
participate in the operation online rather than through an offline
process.
Also new in the update is support for Eclipse, the open-source
programming tools-integration platform whose development IBM
spearheads.
Along with the 4.2 upgrade, IBM will release two new modules,
WebSphere Business Integration Modeler and WebSphere Business
Integration Monitor.
IBM's goal with WebSphere Business Integration is to let
customers mesh their business processes with their IT
infrastructure, said Rachel Helm, IBM's director of product
management for WebSphere Business Integration.
The modelling module will aid customers in identifying and
simulating business processes, she said, while the monitoring
component offers users dashboard views of ongoing operations such
as sales processing and supplier interactions.
The core of both products came from Holosofx, whose technology
has now been revamped and integrated into the WebSphere line.
Pricing for WebSphere Business Integration Server 4.2 starts at
$124,000 (£78,451) per processor. The add-on cost of the monitoring
and modelling modules depends on customers' configurations.
