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Integration software provider WebMethods Inc. has teamed up with Neon Systems Inc. to bring together the WebMethods Fabric business process integration suite with Neons Shadow RTE mainframe integration suite, released last week.
As a result of the partnership, enterprises will have the ability to leverage their mainframe data as Web services in a services-based framework, giving them the ability to model and deploy business processes that span both mainframe and distributed environments, officials said.
Neon, of Sugar Land, Texas, is taking the enterprise service bus approach to mainframe integration with Shadow RTE. Based on Neons Shadow code base, along with technology acquired from ClientSoft Inc. and InnerAccess Technologies Inc. last year, Shadow RTE lets users access and deploy legacy data as Web services in a service-based architecture and as events in an event-based architecture. Users can also use SQL for direct access to legacy data.
The partnership with WebMethods, of Fairfax, Va., enables Neon to offer transactional support for mainframe environments, along with data and event-level integration. At the same time, users can integrate legacy data with business processes, WebMethods officials said.
WebMethods Fabric provides some ancillary capabilities, including predictive process monitoring and management. Servicenet, a Web services infrastructure component within Fabric, lets users manage and monitor mainframe-based Web services.
Under the terms of the agreement, both companies have cross-certified their products for better interoperability.
Shawn Willett, an analyst with Current Analysis Inc., in Washington, said Shadow RTE helps move the mainframe into current technology environments, albeit with some drawbacks. “A lot of people are nervous about applying Web services to critical data on the mainframe because it can affect security performance,” said Willett. “However, [Shadow RTE] is not addressing issues around security and around IT governance.”