Hotting Up

IONA, Wipro Join Hands for SOA

Dublin based system integrator IONA Technologies and Indian company Wipro
Technologies have signed an agreement to target the emerging SOA demand. Wipro
will utilize IONA's Artix extensible Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) to handle
SOA deployments that can go beyond the existing enterprise IT assets to new
process automation applications. Wipro, that delivers SOA solutions via its
global delivery model, has identified Artix as a powerful SOA enablement
software that can be deployed to deliver dynamic and adaptive SOA solutions.

Initially, the joint initiative will focus on customers in the financial
services industry, and the intention for both organizations is to broaden the
scope of the relationship across various segments such as telecom, government,
and healthcare.

Accenture Plans to Enhance Capabilities

Accenture has demonstrated its commitment in the SOA domain by committing a
planned investment of $450 mn over the next three years to accelerate the growth
of its SOA capabilities. Its initiative includes the setting up of a new R&D
lab, a blueprint for SOA implementation, and expanding Accenture's portfolio
of cross-industry offerings.

Accenture Technology Lab for SOA innovation is to accelerate the development
of SOA applications customized for specific industries and help reshape legacy
computer systems into applications that deliver the full benefits of SOA. The
lab will be a joint effort between all four of Accenture's R&D facilities,
which are located in Chicago, Palo Alto, Sophia Antipolis, and Bangalore.

The primary tasks of the new lab will be to build reusable modules by using
domain-specific language and model-driven development. In model-driven
development, applications are written in business language, instead of computer
languages. The domain-specific business language automatically converts it into
computer code. The language is designed to be useful for a specific set of
business tasks. Other elements of Accenture's SOA initiative include the
experimental software environment. It'll be used as a test bed in the
Accenture Technology Lab for SOA Innovation, running experiments on SOA and
software, and comparing open source and commercial development.

TIBCO Introduces SOA Resource Center

TIBCO Software, a business integration and process management software
company, has set up a SOA Resource Center. It's a dedicated site that provides
web-based information assets intended to increase awareness about
service-oriented practices and help facilitate the strategic planning and
deployment of SOA. The center provides enterprise architects and developers with
ready access to educational information and enablement tools that cover relevant
SOA topics. TIBCO's SOA Resource Center offers a series of informative
seminars, webinars, and white papers. These resources are aimed to assist
customers for identifying and addressing specific business requirements during
each step of the planning and implementation process.

BEA Accelerates its Activity

BEA Systems has decided to be more aggressive in the SOA space with a series
of offerings for enterprise users. Its drive got momentum when BEA chairman and
CEO Alfred Chuang had announced new products and programs at the BEAWorld
conference last year. Providing end-to-end support to customers, the company
offers to handle SOA projects from pilot to production stage.

Showing increased commitment in the SOA space, the company has unveiled its
WebLogic Real Time Edition. The product links the WebLogic Server application
server to a version of the JRockit Java Virtual Machine. This will enable them
to leverage the SOA benefits. The company has decided to offer SOA support to
the emerging business process management market, among other segments.

Oracle Targets Web Services Security

Oracle has introduced an integrated, standards-based business process
platform that simplifies the security of SOA and Web services. This platform
comprises Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Oracle Web Services Manager. It
enables customers to easily and cost-effectively implement end-to-end Web
services security and management, ensuring that Web services deployed within or
across enterprise firewalls are fully secure.

The integrated components of Oracle Fusion Middleware make it easier to
implement and deliver on service level agreements. The combined products also
make it simple to create, integrate, orchestrate, and access secure Web services
without hard coding security policies, transformations, location transparency,
and version control.

Based on the business process execution language (BPEL) standard, Oracle BPEL
process manager allows organizations to easily implement adaptive transactions
and collaborative business processes based on composite applications. Oracle Web
Services Manager secures and manages the operations of Web services and the
interactions between these services. When integrated, the two provide a secure
business process platform that includes the elements required to secure business
processes built on any Java-based application server.

Mastek Plans to Release New 'Elixir'

Mastek has planned to launch its enterprise SOA platform for the insurance
industry. Christened Elixir, the solution will reach the market during Q1, 2007.
Mastek generates over $30 mn per year in insurance-related software and services
specializing in the life, annuity, and health insurance sectors. The company
launched its Elixir solutions in 1994. In its third generation, it's launching
the Elixir platform on SOA with global product set, comprehensive functionality,
rich features, and high flexibility that the company claims would drive
achievement of business key performance indicators much quicker than the
competing products available in the market.

Satyam, GigaSpaces Form Alliance

Satyam Computer Services and GigaSpaces Technologies have decided to go
jointly in the SOA market. The two companies will provide end-to-end solutions
for SOA and grid environments. While GigaSpaces will provide software, Satyam
will deliver implementation and IT services expertise for its partner's
software products. The offerings will comprise low-latency, scalable solutions
that will be particularly useful for companies that rely on high-volume
transactional applications.

Source: CIOL

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