IBM To Update WebSphere Tools, App Server

IBM

Next week, the company plans to unveil a new version of its application server and several new configurations of its WebSphere Studio tools dedicated to Web services.

WebSphere 4.1 Application Server will ship with a UDDI registry, adds support for Informix databases and supports the batch of new WebSphere Studio tools, to be unveiled at JavaOne.

Part of this effort involves rebranding and repackaging some of IBM's venerable VisualAge lineup as part of the WebSphere family. VisualAge Enterprise Suite for example, will transform into WebSphere Studio Enterprise Developer by the middle of this year, according to sources familiar with the plans.

VisualAge for Java EE becomes WebSphere Studio Application Developer, and now supports the latest WebSphere Application Server Enterprise 4.1 release, and offers developers a way to build high-end Web services that support J2EE, according to sources who have been briefed. That bundle starts at $3,499.

IBM claims that its new application server and WebSphere Studio combination will make it easier to link new Java applications to non-Java-based counterparts.

Also on the road map are WebSphere Commerce Suite, due out early next year, Websphere Everyplace Servers and WebSphere Portal Servers, both due later this quarter.

VisualAge Micro Edition has become WebSphere Studio Device Developer, geared toward developers who want to build applications for Palm, PocketPC devices or other hardware running Linux. The software, which includes a J2ME integrated development environment as well as remote testing and debugging capabilities, is available now for $499, according to sources familiar with the plans.

IBM had to do a better job aggregating and positioning its toolset, much as Microsoft has done with Visual Studio .Net, some analysts said.

The focus at JavaOne in San Francisco will be at the "extremes of the spectrum, the enterprise stuff, around J2EE 1.3, which everyone is working to be compliant with, and J2 Micro Edition, J2ME, which over past year gathered momentum," said Dwight Davis, analyst with Summit Strategies. Nokia, for example, last year committed to shipping millions of J2ME-enabled cell phone handsets this year, and that's still the projection, Davis said.

WebSphere Studio Site Developer for building non-static Web sites supports Java, JSP, XML and bundles Rational's ClearCase LT for collaborative development.

Also at the show, a host of vendors including Art Technology Group, BEA Systems, Broadvision, IBM, Iona, Oracle, SAP and Sun Microsystems are expected to throw their collective weight behind a new specification to ease portal development and potentially make it easier for integrators to build portals with tools from different vendors. The Java Specification Request (JSR) 168 standard will be supported in new toolkits from Sun and Oracle debuting next week.

JSR 168 was announced into the Java Community Process (JCP) in January and is also supported by tools vendors such as Borland, Bowstreet and Macromedia.