Oracle Quickens SOA Pace with Collaxa Buy

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Picking up the war cry of business applications rival SAP for service-oriented architecture, Oracle on Tuesday announced a new SOA and integration platform.

Oracle Corp. also quietly disclosed its acquisition of Collaxa Inc., a small, independent business process management software developer whose technology drives Oracles new SOA platform, Oracle BPEL Process Manager.

BPEL [Business Process Execution Language] is a standard supported by Microsoft Corp., IBM, SAP AG and BEA Systems Inc. for orchestrating discrete services into business processes. BPEL-enabled processes are able to reach out to XML-based Web services as well as to other forms of communication, including user workflow, e-mail and EDI (electronic data interchange), according to Collaxas Web site.

/zimages/6/28571.gifIs BPEL right for you? Take our quiz to find out.

Collaxas BPEL Server coordinates Web services and automates business processes. Oracles SOA platform helps users deploy business processes on the fly to leverage changing business demands, officials said.

The BPEL Process Manager platform also borrows from Oracles Application Server 10g integration capabilities that include support for BPEL as well as for process monitoring.

The idea is that by using Oracle BPEL Process Manager and Oracle Application Server 10g, users can utilize Web services for integration—a methodology that some of Oracles competitors have already caught on to.

Walldorf, Germany-based SAP, the worlds largest business applications provider, announced plans this spring to develop a service-oriented architecture—a three-year process that is expected to be completed by 2007. That effort includes SAPs NetWeaver integration platform and a componentization of SAPs ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications.

/zimages/6/28571.gifSuns “Kitty Hawk” strategy aims to simplify the creation and management of SOAs. Click here to read more.

Oracles BPEL Process Manager platform includes the ability to design, execute and manage business processes. It is available now via a free download from Oracle that includes an evaluation from the Oracle Technology Network. It also can be purchased as an add-on to 10g Enterprise Edition for $10,000, or on its own for $30,000.

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