Apps Target Midmarket Enterprise Integration

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. and Microsoft Corp. both have rolled out software that is designed to enable midsize companies to integrate enterprise applications.

Magic last week introduced iBolt Integration Suite, a software package that works with the Irvine, Calif., companys eDeveloper application development tools to enable companies to connect and monitor transactions across heterogeneous environments and then change business processes as business requirements change.

The iBolt integration engine has four tiers: an execution platform, a business rules engine, a message broker and a workflow engine.

iBolts Integration Flow Editor provides a tool for designing and modeling projects. The suite also includes Integration Flows Components that are essentially smart connectors and adapters used to connect business logic across applications.

Developers can show the product of an integration in an enterprise portal.

Meanwhile, Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., late last month made available an adapter that connects its BizTalk Server 2002 integration software with its SQL Server database. BizTalk Adapter for SQL Server enables developers to read and write to any SQL Server database installation from BizTalk Server 2002.

BizTalk already uses SQL Server as its underlying message store. With the adapter, organizations will be able to perform operations such as receiving an electronic invoice and validating the amount of the invoice against the corresponding amount on the purchase order issued against the invoice.

To accomplish such a task, the company would establish a workflow procedure with BizTalk Server that looked up and read the value in a line-of-business database and compared it with the invoice amount. If the amount were equal to or less than the expected value, the document would continue down the prescribed path. Otherwise, it would be stopped and reviewed by a user.