WebMethods Combines The Old And New

The Fairfax, Va.-based company said its Enterprise Services Platform enables companies to continue using current integration software, while moving toward an SOA--an evolution in distributed computing that heavily leverages emerging Web-services standards.

The new product combines Webmethods' message-brokering infrastructure with its newer Fabric tools for building SOAs. Kristin Weller, executive vice president for product development at the company, said in a statement that the latest platform is the "combined strength of these technologies and the natural synergies between them that create true product differentiation and drive further value and return on investment to our customers."

Some analysts, however, were skeptical, saying Web-services-based integration and messaging middleware used by longtime integration vendors, such as WebMethods, SeeBeyond and Tibco, represent separate approaches to integration. From a technology standpoint, it's unlikely a vendor can build a one-size-fits-all set of tools.

"What WebMethods is trying to do is merge [its products] into one platform from a marketing perspective," Ronald Schmelzer, analyst for ZapThink LLC, said. "But from the customer's view and a technology perspective, they are very different."

WebMethods and other vendors associated in the late 1990s with the "enterprise application integration" market have had a difficult time convincing companies that they can offer better technology than can startups that have built products based on new standards from the ground up, such as Systinet, Actional, and Fiorano Software, Schmelzer said.

For older vendors, convincing potential customers that they have the tools for building SOAs is key, given the attention the architecture has attracted among companies looking for a vendor-neutral approach to computing.

The market for SOAs, including software, services, and hardware, is expected to reach $21 billion by 2007, according to research firm International Data Corp. Use of Web services, a major component of SOAs, is also expected to increase dramatically, with 80 percent of businesses expected to have projects underway by 2008.

Helping to drive the market are the adoption of Web-services technology by major software-infrastructure vendors, such as IBM, Microsoft, and BEA Systems. They're support has helped legitimize the technology among many large corporations.

Beyond technology, WebMethods' other challenges include shifting its business model to selling less-expensive SOA tools from its costly messaging systems, Schmelzer said. Salespeople, for example, like the heftier commissions from the older software.

Nevertheless, the shift in the integration market is young, and there's still time for vendors to establish strong businesses.

"No one is making a killing on the SOA side, yet," Schmelzer said. "It's definitely a horse race, and we'll know who the winners are in 18 months."

*This story courtesy of Techweb.com.