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Microsoft Corp.s E-Business Web Services team is prepping an e-business server suite code-named Jupiter.
Microsoft is working to bundle together a bunch of its existing enterprise-application-integration (EAI) and business-to-business (B2B) products into the Jupiter suite, sources said. The next-generation versions of the companys BizTalk app-integration server and SharePoint Portal Server will be the centerpieces, they said. Commerce Server, Content Management Server and Host Integration Server will be Jupiters other main elements, according to published reports.
Other likely elements in a Jupiter bundle include hooks to some of the .Net Web services extensions Microsoft is building atop its Great Plains application software suite of products and Microsofts BizTalk Accelerator templates and blueprints.
Microsoft currently offers three BizTalk Acclerator packs: BizTalk for HIPAA; BizTalk for Suppliers; and BizTalk for RosettaNet.
Microsoft also is said to be building a set of related tools that will let programmers visually assemble .Net Web services into overarching e-business services; these tools are likely to appear as part of Jupiter.
Its not clear how far along Microsoft is with testing its Jupiter integrated bundle, and the companys not talking. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment on Jupiter.
In terms of positioning, Microsoft is expected to play up Jupiters role as a business-process integration platform, not just as an environment for the integration of applications and/or data. Microsoft is likely to tout its reliance on emerging standards, such as SOAP, WSDL and UDDI, as the foundations for Jupiter, as well as to highlight its alliances with standards bodies, such as RosettaNet, government agencies and others related organizations, such as the Web Services Interoperability Organization.
IBM has adopted similar positioning and packaging with its WebSphere offering — right down to the Web-services extensions and programming tools.
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