While most companies today may be comfortable deploying small Web services inside the enterprise, moving outside the firewall is another issue. Tibco Software Inc. is addressing the security and complexity concerns of deploying Web services externally with the next generation of its ActiveExchange platform
ActiveExchange 3.0, which will be announced on Monday and is available immediately, provides a single platform for application-to-application and business-to-business integration that accelerates connections with business partners and provides some measure of security.
The upgraded ActiveExchange speeds up integration to outside partners through a new B2B server, Tibco BusinessPartner – essentially a scaled down version of Tibcos BusinessConnect server.
BusinessConnect is a B2B integration server that enables a company to integrate trading partners into its business by coordinating complex, cross-company transactions.
BusinessPartner is a lightweight server that a company can distribute to its partners that do not have a B2B system already in place.
Tibcos PartnerExpress is an add-on to BusinessConnect that allows trading partners to exchange business documents or initiate transactions using a Web browser. As PartnerExpress is pre-configured to talk to trading partners, users need only connect their backend applications, according to officials in Palo Alto, Calif.
For added security, Tibco has added support of the XML digital certificate specification put forth by Microsoft Corp. and IBM, so that when partners send documents back and forth, they are legally signed, and binding.
Version 3.0, starting at $200,000, also adds enhanced support for additional protocols and standards, including support for ebXML messaging spec, version 2.0; RosettaNet Implementation Framework, version 1.1 and 2.0, and all published Partner Interfaces Processes (PIPs).