IBI + IBM = EAI

Information Builders (IBI), has announced support for IBM's (NYSE: IBM) MQSeries Integrator Version 2 via IBI's "Enterprise Connector for MQSeries Integrator" product. The combination of the two products provides application support on over 35 different platforms and over 120 relational, non-relational, transaction, and application sources.

"Information Builders has worked with IBM to provide rapid integration solutions for more than 12 years," said John Senor, vice president, Information Builders' Middleware Technology Group. "As IBM's capabilities have grown to include MQSeries, MQSeries Everyplace, MQSeries Adapter Offering, MQSeries Integrator, MQSeries Workflow, and WebSphere Application Server, our capabilities to complement IBM solutions by providing 'out-of-the-box' integration capabilities have also grown substantially. We're proud to provide back-end integration support working with IBM."

"Companies want to develop rapid, reliable, scalable solutions, but the integration issues they face are much greater than they have ever been, largely due to legacy and closed systems," said Rob Lamb, director, Business Integration, IBM. "MQSeries Integrator is developed to work on open platforms and runs with a wide range of ERP and legacy systems. We are pleased to see Information Builders' support for the MQSI open node architecture."

In addition, IBI has announced support for IBM's WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition 3.5. According to Mr. Senor, Enterprise Connector will provide WebSphere with "'out of the box' rapid integration capabilities for data transactions and applications that require writing custom code".

"The accessibility to crucial information is essential to any company's e-business success," said Paraic Sweeney, vice president of marketing, WebSphere software platform, IBM. "WebSphere Application Server working with Information Builders' solution will help business effectively obtain this critical data for e-business success."

The addition of MQSI Version 2.0 support to the Enterprise Connector product will have a similar effect on the market to that caused by the WebSphere integration. The sheer breadth of data access interfaces will make this product difficult to compete with (when the customer has a heterogeneous environment). According to IBI, the integrated product simplifies the process of developing message flows, and can reduce the time, effort, and cost associated with creating message flows by as much as 40-80 percent. If these numbers can be backed up, other vendors will have to scramble even harder to integrate with MQSIV2 and make their products developer friendly (especially in the area of speed of development), or they will not survive in the highly competitive EAI marketplace.

In the area of WebSphere integration, Information Builders' product offering already supports access to more than 120 relational, non-relational, and application sources. The latter category includes popular relational database management systems, legacy DBMSs, and file systems, as well as CICS and IMS/TM transaction systems, MQSeries and MQSeries Integrator-based messaging applications, SAP R/3, PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards application environments, and custom-developed applications written in COBOL, RPG, C, C++ or other callable languages. The combination of IBM WebSphere and IBI will give the WebSphere offering an even stronger position in the market, especially in the area of integrating legacy systems with e-business initiatives. No other vendor has the depth or breadth of platform and data source support that this product does.

Customers evaluating business initiatives that will have back-end data stored in legacy formats, flat files, or other non-relational formats should strongly consider the IBI Enterprise Data Access (EDA) product, with the MQSIV2 connector. Additionally, IBM/IBI's WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition 3.5 offering should be considered for legacy integration with e-business initiatives. In both cases, enhanced platform support and the ability to use SQL to query non-relational datasources will enhance programmer productivity and increase return on investment in a shorter timeframe.

SOURCE:http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/ibi-%2B-ibm-%3D-eai-16254/