OpSource Rolls Out Multi-Tenant Integration Bus

SAN FRANCISCO—OpSource is rolling out a new multi-tenant integration service bus that enables companies to consume and publish multiple Web services in the cloud from both software as a service and on-premise applications.

CEO Treb Ryan said OpSource Connect, unveiled at the SAAS Summit 2008 here Feb. 28, is the first such integration service bus in the industry.

OpSource Connect, based on MuleSource's open-source enterprise service bus, essentially lets Web-enabled OpSource customers make their data available on the OpSource Bus to all of their customers. With the bus concept, an application communicates via a "bus" or message broker between applications. A multi-tenant bus lets users write one integration to an application or service, and then reuse it.

OpSource is a platform company—though Ryan shies away from the platform term—that hosts SAAS applications for ISVs and provides add-on tools like system monitoring and metering. The company also partners with operating system and development tools vendors. Company officials said OpSource supports hundreds of applications, millions of users and billions of transactions every day.

OpSource Connect also provides connections to OpSource's own set of applications, which include billing, analytics and end-user support. The billing feature—one that Salesforce.com has been working on for some time but has yet to release—meters service usage and lets users bill and meter customers based on transactions. OpSource bought its billing capability with the acquisition of LeCayla Technologies in February.

"Really what we're saying [OpSource Connect] is about is Web service transactions in a true business environment, but integrations can become much simpler for customers," Ryan said. "They don't have to do it a bunch of times; they can do it once and it's scalable and reliable and can expand business dramatically."

Ryan plans to demonstrate the bus concept Feb. 29 at the show.

For integrating applications behind the firewall—typically on-premise applications—OpSource partners with two companies, Boomi and Cast Iron Systems. Boomi for OpSource Connect is a visual, drag-and-drop application for integrating Salesforce.com and NetSuite applications, two companies OpSource has built pre-integration APIs to.

Separately, OpSource Sockets—based on Boomi agents that reside behind the firewall on a customer's application server—allow integration to legacy-type applications like SAP and QuickBooks. Cast Iron is an integration appliance that also sits behind the firewall to integrate legacy apps.