Making JBoss

WebMethods, based here, will bundle the JBoss open-source app server with webMethods 6, which will ship in mid-January 2003, said Jim Ivers, webMethods' director of marketing. WebMethods eventually will build the JBoss app server into a version of its platform that will be released in 2003.

Mike DeBellis, e-business CTO at integrator Deloitte Consulting, said that although webMethods' strategy is justified, the move to include an app server with its platform won't stave off competitors. "We're going to see people like BEA [Systems take more of that middleware business," DeBellis said.

Besides bundling an app server, webMethods 6 marks the first time webMethods has fully integrated disparate components acquired from other software vendors over the past two years, Ivers said. Those components include integration technology from Active Software, which webMethods acquired in 2000, and workflow technology from IntelliFrame, which webMethods acquired last year.

WebMethods' move to bundle JBoss with webMethods 6 comes in response to rising competition from leading J2EE vendors such as BEA and IBM, which have boosted investments in EAI strategies and aim to woo customers with an integrated software suite.

"There's been a lot of pressure from different directions," Ivers said. "The app server vendors have been making a lot of noise about their ability to offer integration."

Shawn Willett, principal analyst at research firm Current Analysis, agreed. "I think including JBoss isn't going to be enough to counter the threat of the lower-cost integration brokers, whether they be from BEA, Microsoft or [other vendors," he said.

As long as webMethods continues to "ignore the midmarket" and target large enterprise accounts, it should be able to remain competitive, Willett said.

WebMethods' bundling move is "somewhat symbolic" because the vendor has long considered app servers an inappropriate platform on which to run integration software, Willett said. Now webMethods is admitting that "it's a lot more convenient if the two platforms are together," he said.

Ivers declined to disclose pricing for webMethods 6. However, large EAI systems generally cost at least $100,000 to deploy.