IBM Integrates Transaction Server Technologies into WebSphere Product Family
Extended Family Delivers on IBM’s e-business Vision, Simplifies Customer Choice. Common Programming Model Unifies IBM Application Servers
PARIS (September 21, 1998) – IBM today announced the integration of its industry-leading transactional server technologies into one family of offerings. The WebSphere* family, along with Lotus Domino, represents the industry’s most complete range of Web application server environments that support business applications from simple Web publishing through enterprise-scale transaction processing.
The expanded WebSphere family integrates the Web server, transaction processing, Web commerce and distributed component technologies of IBM’s WebSphere Application Server, TXSeries*, Net.Commerce* and Component Broker* products. This lineup of transactional application servers makes e-business a reality, regardless of where companies are in that process. It provides an easy growth path as business needs change and companies’ Web presence intensifies.
“IBM is adding its leading transactional capabilities to the WebSphere family to support the diverse requirements of today’s networked companies,” said Alfred Spector, general manager of marketing and strategy, IBM Application and Integration Middleware. “From content publishing to round-the-clock online business, IBM has a solution that can grow and support the full range of applications, from the simplest to the most robust.”
Common Programming Model
WebSphere and Lotus Domino* are fundamental to IBM’s overall Web strategy, which includes support for the industry-standard Enterprise JavaBeans** (EJB) programming model. This unifying model in WebSphere and in other IBM application server offerings simplifies and reduces the cost of developing e-business applications.
IBM offers a broad range of application server technology including Lotus Domino, DB2* Universal Database, WebSphere, CICS*, IMS*, OS/390* and OS/400*. All of these servers will share componentry with WebSphere and can be used as part of a connected enterprise solution that incorporates WebSphere. IBM SanFrancisco Business Components provide a collection of application development frameworks, components and partner solutions for the WebSphere application servers.
The servers are also unified by a common programming architecture based around EJB, common development tools around the IBM VisualAge* family, and common systems management around Tivoli solutions. WebSphere’s Web server capabilities, transaction processing, commerce functionality, common programming and tools make it the most comprehensive and robust solution bringing value to e-business applications.
“When IBM announced WebSphere Performance Pack and Application Server it demonstrated its full commitment to delivering a high-end application server based on Java and Open Standards,” said Tim Sloan, Director, Internet, Aberdeen Group. “WebSphere instantly challenged the proprietary approaches all the competitors currently ship. With today’s announcements IBM has made it easy and safe for MIS organizations to deliver transaction-based data to the Web. It has also delivered a roadmap to Net.Commerce customers for open participation in the Java world, and provided them access to the wealth of application solutions the open world promises.”
WebSphere Application Servers
The WebSphere application servers are at the center of the WebSphere product line, a comprehensive solution for developing and implementing networked applications. The product line also includes WebSphere Performance Pack, Web facilities management software that supports rapid growth of high-volume Web sites, and WebSphere Studio, an integrated set of Web development tools.
WebSphere Application Servers are a tiered set of offerings, including:
WebSphere Application Server, Standard Edition — provides companies with an open, multi-platform, standards-based, Web server deployment platform and Web site management tools. It offers customers a solution to deploy e-business Web sites across a range of operating systems platforms including AIX*, Windows NT**, Sun Solaris**, OS/400, OS/390 and OS/2* Warp Server.
WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition — expands on the capabilities of the Standard edition to provide enhanced support for scaling Web sites into secure, transactional e-business applications. The Advanced edition connects Web applications to existing databases and host-based transaction systems, and offers sophisticated tools that simplify deployment of distributed component-based applications.
WebSphere Application Server, Enterprise Edition — enhances the Advanced edition and offers a robust solution that grows e-business applications into mission-critical enterprise environments, leveraging existing skills and IT systems. It combines TXSeries, IBM’s world-class distributed transactional application environment, with the full distributed object and business process integration capabilities of Component Broker. All applications currently running on TXSeries or Component Broker will be fully supported by the Enterprise edition.
IBM Net.Commerce, which is IBM’s strategic offering for electronic commerce applications, is part of the WebSphere family and will assume WebSphere branding in 1999. As a result, current Net.Commerce customers will benefit from the broad range of functionality of the new WebSphere Application Server family.
“Charles Schwab’s Web trading application is based on IBM’s proven transaction processing middleware,” said James Chong, vice president, architecture and planning, Charles Schwab. “IBM’s plans to integrate its middleware offerings give customers like us complex technologies in one simple solution. IBM’s strategy gives us the ability to write applications to one programming model — Enterprise JavaBeans — while also providing a guarantee that our existing applications will run on the entire family of WebSphere application servers.”
Additional Information
Additional information on the WebSphere product line may be found on the Web at: http://www.software.ibm.com/websphere. WebSphere application servers include software developed by the Apache Group for use in the Apache HTTP Server Project ( http://www.apache.org). Additional information about NetObjects tools can be found at http://www.netobjects.com.
Charles Schwab is the largest provider of online brokerage services. Schwab.com is one of the largest e-commerce sites in the world, handling more than $2 billion in customers’ securities transactions each week. For more information visit http://www.schwab.com.
Source: IBM