Product Review

SOA Product Review: Managed Methods JaxView 4.0

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Whether you work for a very large company with thousands of services in production or a small company with only a couple, visibility into the performance and uptime of those services is critical. Before you start investigating the myriad of governance products on the market, many of which will set you back a great deal of money, let me save you some time (and money).

SOA World Product Review: iTKO LISA 4 SOA Testing

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST

Testing is a first-order constituent of SOA governance. Assuring that services and service infrastructure components meet functional and technical requirements across lifecycle stages and environments, including production, is an architectural precept in SOA. Gone are the days when testing was an isolated hop in the old disjointed SDLC.

New Column: A Geek's Bookshelf

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:30:00 EDT

What I am going to do in this regular column is feed my habit by highlighting some of the books I am reading, and (mostly) enjoying. (I will only rarely write negative reviews; it's a rare book that I 'do not put down gently but throw across the room with great force' after all.) Geeks like to read - and not only programming books. Most of us read incessantly. Whether it's popular science, sci-fi or fantasy, a good thriller or an occasional popular history book or biography, it's a rare geek who isn't in love with books. And I am no exception, although I have to confess I am rather an extreme case since my love of books and eclectic tastes borders on the 'gentle madness' aka bibliomania.

Stylus Studio XML IDE

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:45:00 EDT

Extensible Markup Language, more popularly known as XML, has found its uses in many areas of software products. Though XML offers a lot of features and uses, it's hard to develop with and maintain without good tools. This review discusses such a tool that would help XML and Java developers use XML efficiently.

Bye Bye Traditional Webmastering, Hello "Web Manager 2.0"

Sun, 07 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EDT

A new breed of web manager is emerging to link content management more closely to website visitor satisfaction. The new web manager may operate under several professional guises: 'customer advocate,' 'information guru,' or 'metator,' to name just a few. They need to employ a very different set of soft skills than traditional webmastering, and many enterprises are struggling with the personnel challenges of this transition.

'Delving' into Cretaceous Software's SOA Fast-Prototyping Toolkit

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:00:00 EDT

Dynamic languages like Ruby and Python have been enjoying a burst of popularity in the Web development community and there are a plethora of frameworks for those platforms that allow them to solve a wide variety of problems. There's one company that's building its own dynamic language from the ground up with a single-minded approach to the problem of fast prototyping for Service Oriented Architectures.

SOA Software Service Manager 5.0 + Workbench 5.0 Product Review

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:45:00 EDT

Many enterprises are currently reorganizing their people, processes, and technology around services. A few are holistically revamping their enterprise architectures around SOA and embarking on roadmaps to achieve grandiose business goals.

.NET Product Review: Active Endpoints' ActiveBPEL

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:15:00 EDT

BPEL or Business Process Execution Language is an XML and Web standards-based SOA (service-oriented architecture) standard that allows business people to combine services into automated processes. As described in this review, Active Endpoints' ActiveBPEL product family includes a visual designer that works by allowing non-programmers to assemble Web services into processes by dragging and dropping graphical representations of components (Web services) and 'wiring' them together in sequences and flowcharts.

SOA Product Review — ActiveBPEL 3.0 from Active Endpoints

Sat, 26 May 2007 14:15:00 EDT

The folks at Active Endpoints carefully thought through how to support users in their move to WS-BPEL 2.0. This resulted in the ability of BPEL 1.1 and WS-BPEL 2.0 processes to co-exist during design, test, and execution in both the designer and the engine. This lets users migrate their processes at their own pace. I've been burned in the past by products that required a big bang conversion so the ability to support 1.1 and 2.0 processes easily is a huge win.

Fiorano SOA Platform

Fri, 25 May 2007 15:30:00 EDT

SOA, EDA, BCM, ESB and BPEL...More than IT Catch Phrases? I recently had the chance to evaluate the next-generation Fiorano SOA Platform 2006 suite from Fiorano Software, Inc. As an architect and developer who's worked with previous versions of the kit over the last three years in addition to several competitor offerings, I looked forward to sitting down with Fiorano's latest release.

SOA World Product Review — Testing...1...2...3...Testing

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:30:00 EDT

Few topics evoke more groans and eye rolling from software engineers and Web developers than the dreaded 'TESTING.' Testing falls into the same category as documentation, refactoring code, dusting, and visiting the dentist. Put it off until the last minute, do as little as possible, do it quickly, and move on to something else. I must confess that I have the same visceral reaction to the thought of 'testing' as others do. Consequently, I approached the prospect of reviewing a testing tool with the loathing of visiting the dentist. I was very relieved to discover that Parasoft's SOAtest 5.0 took a lot of the pain, frustration, and busy work out of the testing experience.

SOA Product Review: Get Rich Applications with WorcsNet IAB Studio

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 22:45:00 EST

IAB Studio is a tightly integrated set of development and runtime tools you can use to easily create browser-based applications, reports, and workflows with rich user interface controls. It makes liberal use of client-side event processing and AJAX-based communication to a J2EE server to provide a more responsive user experience with lighter server loads.

SOA Product Review: Watchfire AppScan

Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:45:00 EST

Security is a major component of application development and must be tailored to the environment and audience of the system. In many respects, the more widely available an application is, the more important security becomes. Properly testing and securing Web Services applications is a challenging task. A tool that facilitates this process and provides visibility into application vulnerabilities is the AppScan product from Watchfire.

SOA Web Services Product Review — Oracle Business Activity Monitoring

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 14:30:00 EDT

Services Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and business collaboration technologies and platforms, often enabled by Web Services and orchestration constructs like BPEL, can be a tremendous business benefit. SOAs can provide the fl exibility in enterprises to adapt to rapidly changing business conditions. Collaboration platforms enable tighter integration between trading partners both at a data and process level. When successfully implemented, these approaches and tools can garner significant improvements in efficiency, communication, service levels, and ultimately profits. However, quantifying the benefit can prove challenging.

SOA Product Review: Mindreef SOAPscope Server

Tue, 20 Jun 2006 18:45:00 EDT

By nature Web Services is a distributed technology. With distribution comes great flexibility for architectural topologies. Components can be strategically placed in different physical locations to optimize performance, maintenance and business processes. In large organizations one physical location may handle sales services, while another delivers contract management. As organizations build Service Oriented Architectures that stitch together these physically dispersed services, distributed development becomes an interesting challenge to overcome. Many collaborative technologies exist today to facilitate better communications and information sharing among workers, but it's rare to find a distributed development environment.

Product Review — ActiveBPEL 2.0 from Active Endpoints Excels at BPEL

Fri, 19 May 2006 12:30:00 EDT

Business process execution Language support or BPEL is at the top of every enterprise SOA punch list. It's an XML-based language designed to support long-running complex business transactions in the form of orchestrated Web Service interactions. Like most XML formats, you wouldn't want to construct and debug a process of any complexity by hand and an 'engine' is required to recognize and execute BPEL.

SOA Web Services Journal Product Review – XMetaL Author 4.6 Service Pack 2 DITA Edition

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 11:00:00 EST

Documentation is generally the final step in the software development cycle and while it is a very important component of the entire software package, last-minute changes in software can lead to major alterations in documentation. The inability to quickly incorporate such amendments in software into documentation has made it difficult for technical writers to author and produce quality deliverables applicable to all audiences without delaying the software production cycle. Additionally, ensuring consistency in documentation published across a wide range of media can lead to further delays. XMetaL Author 4.6 Service Pack 2 DITA Edition (XMetaL Author DITA) by Blast Radius does a successful job of alleviating this very problem.

XML Product Review: "Getting to Know Xindice"

Tue, 14 Feb 2006 19:45:00 EST

Apache Software Foundation's Xindice is an open source native XML database. Apache provides great software to developers such as the Apache Web Server, Tomcat Application Server, Cocoon Web Development Framework, Struts Framework, Ant, and many more under an open source license. Apache Web Server is an industrial-strength product that is used by many high-traffic Web sites. Apache Tomcat is a servlet container that implements both Java Servlets and Java Server Pages. The fact that Xindice is a member of the Apache Software Foundation gives it substantial credibility, because Apache produces well-known, well-respected software. We will explore the Xindice native XML database beginning with its installation and advancing step by step. As the Xindice home page suggests, you are encouraged to pronounce it as 'zeen-dee-chay' with your best faux Italian accent. Xindice supports XPath query language, XML:DB, and XUpdate standards in Java, in addition to XML-RPC API for non-Java programmers.

Web 2.0 Journal Product Review: "Zoho Planner"

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 12:30:00 EST

The Zoho series of online software products from AdventNet has been growing quickly over the last year, and their Zoho Planner product has just been revamped. Designed specifically for the Web 2.0 era, Zoho Planner is an online service for managing task lists and appointments.

Product Review: "MagooClient 2.1 XML Messaging Client"

Tue, 27 Dec 2005 17:15:00 EST

When I first looked over MagooClient from Magoo Software, it was difficult to categorize. I expected that it would be another composite application builder, but that's not what I found. Instead I found a tool that not only allows users to interact with business processes, but that also becomes part of the business process itself. MagooClient can not only reach out and perform Web service requests, but it is designed to also be inserted in the path of XML messages.

FusionWare Integration Server

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 12:45:00 EST

In a service-oriented architecture, the ultimate goal is to quickly and easily build new applications as composites of existing services. Building out the independent services in a manner that supports reuse is itself very challenging. However, several tools are beginning to appear to easily bring applications together once the critical mass of applications is achieved. One such tool is the FusionWare Integration Server.

A Review Of Oracle Application Server 10g

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 10:45:00 EST

A number of solutions exist for creating Java-based Web services from a variety of different providers. Options range from individual processing engines that plug into existing application servers to large enterprise-class platforms in which Web services is one of many components. Each option provides its own set of challenges and benefits while addressing different types of requirements.

BPM Suite From Bluespring Software

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 10:45:00 EST

In the past, business process management has not been a significant area of concern for many corporations. However, with increased regulatory scrutiny facing companies today, the need for formalized definitions, checks and balances, and management oversight is a reality.

Cordys BCP - True Collaboration SOA Web Services

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 21:15:00 EDT

Building truly collaborative systems relationships between organizations is a daunting challenge in today's business environment. While technologies such as Web services have risen to assist, true collaboration requires a far greater set of functionality.

StrikeIron OnDemand SOA Web Services for Microsoft Excel

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 06:30:00 EDT

There was a time when the term 'spreadsheet' simply meant columns of data that were summed up. Although this is all the functionality some people require, Excel has evolved into a much more powerful tool. Users now have the ability to create complex formulas with built-in functions such as MAX, SIN, and SUMIF. They can link workbooks together and not only import data directly from a database, but mirror many database capabilities using VLOOKUP and Pivot Tables. Business administrators can use Excel to automate many of their daily tasks, where they used to require the IT department to develop a database and application. With this additional power, concepts such as primary and foreign keys are no longer foreign to the common worker.

Product Review: Altova Enterprise Suite 2005

Fri, 19 Aug 2005 03:45:00 EDT

XML development is a term that can mean many things to many different people. For some, it is the modeling and creation of XML Schemas and instance documents used to exchange data. Others see it as a part of the larger effort of developing Web services. Still others view it as a means to transform and integrate systems whose data structures and definitions are proprietary.

Pantero 1.3 Shared Data Services

Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:00:00 EDT

The moniker 'Shared Data Services' has a sexy ring to it, and in a market where service-oriented architecture is the topic du jour, you may be tempted to roll your eyes... but don't. Pantero targets an important segment where business spends $80 billion annually on integration and another $19 billion on manual reconciliation.

Oracle Web Services Manager

Thu, 26 May 2005 11:00:00 EDT

As departments and organizations in the enterprise adopt Web services, the importance of managing and securing, and in some cases, extending these services to partners, grows. Using a centralized platform to do it reduces the effort and cost involved, while upping security. Web Services Manager from Oracle is designed to meet the challenge of stitching together services in large enterprises into a single management system.

Fuego Studio 5.1

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST

Organizations large and small routinely face challenges in managing business processes. From an administrative standpoint, policies and procedures are put in place to ensure compliance. However, no matter how strictly they are enforced, there are always those who work outside their boundaries.

Above All Studio 2.0

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST

Much has been written recently about the business-to-business aspects of Web services, but what about the region between the Web service and the desktop? Above All Software lays claim to this 'last mile' by providing a platform for delivering composite applications.

sforce.com

Thu, 28 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EDT

sforce.com surfaces the services used by the saleforce.com CRM solution to provide an exhaustive development platform used to integrate new functionality and develop applications. While the services provided using industry-standard Web services protocols (XML and WSDL) represent one of the most complete Web service framework implementations to date...

Forum Systems XWall Web Services Firewall

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Security is important. Anyone in the business of designing, developing, hosting, or managing business applications understands this fundamental statement. Web services present unique challenges such that the integrity and security of the content of the exchanged documents is just as important as the integrity of the communications link between the trading partners.

DreamFactory Suite from DreamFactory

Tue, 31 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The DreamFactory suite is a mature development and execution platform for crafting rich, event-driven interfaces. DreamFactory picks up the UI development 'gauntlet' with a thoroughly thought out metaphor, framework, and tools whose sophistication matches, and usually exceeds, that of the other application components while remaining straightforward to develop in.

Oracle BPEL Process Manager

Tue, 03 Aug 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Service-oriented architecture (SOA), while its underpinnings have been around for years, has recently become one of the most talked about topics in the IT industry. The interest in SOAs is largely due to the emergence of Web services and their ability to expose business applications through well-defined interfaces in a platform-independent manner. While an SOA need not be built using Web services, it certainly presents an attractive option for a variety of environments.

Cape Clear Data Interchange 4.7

Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:00:00 EDT

No matter how advanced enterprise systems become, the sophistication of the tools available to build them, or the advances of architectural approaches and best practices from which to start, the life blood of any system is the raw data. Without the data, what's the point? Whether the system is simply collecting information from a set of HTML forms, or is one participant in a highly complex, distributed environment consisting of several integration touch points, there will always be the challenge of getting data into and out of the system.

SOAPtest 2.5 from Parasoft

Fri, 04 Jun 2004 00:00:00 EDT

SOAPtest is a comprehensive testing tool geared to testing Web services. It provides unit, system, and load testing features and support for WSDL, WS-Security, and JMS, including asynchronous messaging. It also supports attachments, access to performance monitors, comparative reporting, and more.

Wisiba Web Service Management from Itellix

Fri, 30 Apr 2004 00:00:00 EDT

There's a phenomenon I've witnessed again and again in my years building systems. I call it 'Guerilla IT.' Listen to my description and see if you've witnessed it inside your organization.

Workstation Server Enterprise and Developer Editions from General Interface - Product review

Mon, 05 Apr 2004 00:00:00 EDT

As Web services become more prevalent in the application tier and Web application sophistication increases, alternative approaches to the traditional Web tier are being developed. The Workstation Server product suite by General Interface provides a refreshing standards-based alternative for creating rich browser-based, event-driven interfaces to Web services (in IE 5.5+ and similar browsers).

SOAPScope 3.0 from Mindreef

Mon, 08 Mar 2004 00:00:00 EST

Since WSJ last looked at Mindreef's SOAPScope back in July '03 (Vol. 3, issue 7), much has been added in functionality and features to benefit the package. New items include integration with Visual Studio .NET, integration with the WS-I testing tools, a new Graph View for looking at historical data, and a differencing engine, among others. Overall, this is an excellent update; what follows are some of its highlights.

AmberPoint Express from AmberPoint, Inc.

Fri, 05 Mar 2004 00:00:00 EST

Not surprisingly, Web services management tools are quickly appearing to assist developers and system administrators alike with the maintenance of service-based applications. One such product is AmberPoint Express, a free Web services management and monitoring tool whose mission is to provide developers with the ability to '...incrementally measure, debug and fine-tune the performance and functionality of their Web services...'