Web services has been touted by all major vendors as "the next big thing", a technology wave that will usher in a new model of computing and business. However, it will bring with it major integration challenges.
Now Ascential Software, the global data integration leader, has announced its entry to the market with an extension of its enterprise data integration platform to provide realtime data transformation and integration capabilities between incompatible Web services.
Through this move, Ascential is solving what analysts concur is a rapidly growing problem that will inhibit the success of Web services for the integration of enterprise applications.
"As customers begin to explore how they use Web services to integrate applications, they will quickly encounter problems with data incompatibility," says Daryl Plummer, group VP and research group manager, software infrastructure, for Gartner Research. "Clearly, any kind of Web services development that requires two or more systems to share common data elements will need data transformation built into the process."
Web services have the same data compatibility requirements as all other application integration projects. In business, Web services are all about connecting incompatible applications. Connectivity alone, though, does not ensure the successful interoperability of applications.
"The world of Web services today consists of pipes that can be bolted together successfully, without regards to whether the data flowing through those pipes will mix well together to achieve a customer`s objective," said Julian Field, GM Ascential Software South Africa.
"Our goal with Web services is to change that old model and minimise the investment needed for data integration by using all forms of connectivity between enterprise systems, existing investments and integrating those with new investments in Web services."
Ascential will introduce the following functional additions in the DataStage data integration product family this year:
* Existing data integration tasks converted into Web services. Customers will be able to specify integration tasks in DataStage to make results available as a Web service. Customers are likely to select this capability if they have already invested in connecting to their mainframe and server-based data systems and do not see the need to invest in an additional connectivity framework.
* Transformation brokering Web services: Supporting a new category of software that Gartner Research`s Plummer calls transitionary Web services, this capability will allow customers to use DataStage to request, normalise and deliver data between two or more incompatible Web services.
* Realtime data integration Web services: Customers will be able to use DataStage to gain realtime visibility into a company`s internal and partner systems. DataStage will to extract the appropriate data, normalise and combine the data in realtime to service an information request.
* Call Web services within data integration tasks: Customers will be able to call external Web services directly within a data integration task. This capability will in turn reduce costs of data integration by incorporating the benefits of inexpensive, Web service-enabled connectivity.
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