New integration technologies
Microsoft:
Windows Workflow Foundation is the programming model, engine and tools for quickly building workflow enabled applications on Windows. It consists of a WinFX namespace, an in-process workflow engine, and designers for Visual Studio 2005. Windows Workflow Foundation is available (currently in beta) for both client and server versions of Windows. Windows Workflow Foundation includes support for both system workflow and human workflow across a wide range of scenarios including: workflow within line of business applications, user interface page-flow, document-centric workflow, human workflow, composite workflow for service oriented applications, business rule driven workflow and workflow for systems management.
The Windows Workflow Foundation namespace in WinFX is called System.Workflow. Windows Workflow Foundation provides a consistent and familiar development experience with other WinFX technologies such as ASP.NET, Windows Communication Foundation and Windows Presentation Foundation. Windows Workflow Foundation provides full support for Visual Basic .NET and C#, debugging, a graphical workflow designer and the ability to develop your workflow completely in code. Windows Workflow Foundation also provides an extensible model and designer to build custom activities which encapsulate workflow functionality for end-users or for re-use across multiple projects. Windows Workflow Foundation will be used across many future Microsoft products including The Microsoft Office System, BizTalk Server and the Microsoft Dynamics Products (previously known as Microsoft Business Solutions products). Most applications can benefit from the asynchronous state management features of the workflow model, the rapid development features of the designer, the potential for end-user flexibility, and the increased visibility into run-time code execution.
IBM:
IBM unveiled its latest set of service-oriented architecture offerings yesterday, filling out its WebSphere product line with a lightweight, Java-based enterprise service bus (ESB) and a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) engine. IBM also announced upgraded offerings for WebSphere Message Broker and its business modeling and monitoring tools.
New and upgraded offerings in the IBM SOA Foundation include:
-- The new, Java-based WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus.
-- The new WebSphere Integration Developer, an Eclipse-based tool for the development and integration of composite applications.
-- The new WebSphere Process Server, a BPEL engine that coordinates business processes with the new ESB, is built in to provide the messaging backbone.
-- The new WebSphere Everyplace Deployment, which monitors events in the application layer and sends alerts out to XML edge devices.
-- The upgraded WebSphere Message Broker.
-- The upgraded WebSphere Business Modeler, which allows business processes to be modeled prior to development.
-- The upgraded WebSphere Business Monitor, which provides a dashboard view of Web services performance.