IBM to offer e-commerce
integration software
By Wylie Wong
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 27, 2000, 6:15 a.m. PT
IBM is moving further into the fast-growing
software integration business.
IBM today announced plans for new e-commerce
software that allows companies to link their different
computing systems so they can exchange data and
conduct business over the Web.
With e-commerce between
businesses exploding,
companies need to build Web
sites that link them with their
customers, suppliers and
partners, analysts said. That
means companies need to tie
together business software
that was never meant to be
integrated. The emerging
software integration market is
expected to grow from sales
of $400 million in 1999 to
$1.8 billion by 2002,
according to analyst firm
Gartner Group.
With today's move, IBM jumps
further into a market where
smaller players, such as
Tibco, Neon Software, TSI
and Vitria, have taken an early
lead over bigger rivals Oracle,
Microsoft and Sun, who are
just entering the market.
"The 'Big Four' software companies are stepping in
and saying, 'We're going to take this market
seriously. Thank you, all you smaller vendors, for
proving there is an incredible market for integration
capabilities,'" said Hurwitz Group analyst Evan Quinn.
IBM today said it will ship in the late summer new
software, called WebSphere B2B Integrator, that will
let businesses use Extensible Markup Language
(XML) to tie their computing systems together to do
e-commerce.
As for the other giant software makers, Microsoft
plans to enter the market later this year with a product
called BizTalk Server, while Oracle has recently
released its own product, called XML Integration
Server. Sun recently acquired Forte Software, which
makes software integration technology.
IBM, however, isn't new to software integration. Its
popular MQSeries software is widely used by
companies to allow their internal business
applications, such as mainframe, financial and human
resources software, to communicate.
"The B2B Integrator is IBM's large-scale attempt to
offer integration capabilities," Quinn said. "IBM will
claim they've been a serious player for a long time
with MQSeries, but that's true only for integrating
applications inside the same company."
IBM executives say the new B2B Integration Server,
which features a mix of new and old IBM technology,
will allow a single business to integrate its own
applications but also allow companies to conduct and
manage commerce with their partners over the Web.
Like its rivals' products, IBM's forthcoming B2B
Integration Server relies heavily on XML, a Web
standard for exchanging data. The product features
IBM's newly-created XML specification that details a
common way for companies to define and execute
business contracts over the Web.
It will also include IBM's WebSphere application
server, technology that runs transactions, and
MQSeries messaging software, which is designed to
ensure that information sent from a business
application is delivered to its intended target. An
insurance company, for example, can build a system
that automatically routes claims to the appropriate
department.
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