Breaking News - Operating Systems & Middleware:
MS To Enable Integration Between Host Systems, Windows Server
Microsoft Corp unveiled the newest version of its industry-leading legacy
platform interoperability solution, Host Integration Server (HIS) 2004, part
of Microsoft Windows Server System. With HIS 2004, enterprises can integrate
their existing IBM mainframe and midrange systems with new Windows-based
solutions, enabling customers to use and extend their host assets at a
significantly lower cost. HIS 2004 includes newly developed Transaction
Integrator (TI) design tools that run in the context of the Visual Studio .NET
2003 integrated development environment (IDE). The TI tools enable Windows
developers to wrap existing host line-of-business (LOB) applications as XML
Web services or Microsoft .NET server components that are usable in a
service-oriented architecture (SOA) solution.
"Host Integration Server 2004 gives customers new ways to get more out of
their existing IT systems in a cost-efficient manner. Customers have told us
that they need technology that enables them to utilize their mainframe assets
and expose those assets as Web services," said Ted Kummert, corporate vice
president in the Business Process and Integration Division at Microsoft. "We
are now providing an opportunity for companies to integrate their mission-
critical mainframe applications, data sources, and messaging and security
systems through Web-service-enabled SOA solutions that are reusable and
extensible."
Faster Time To Market, Ability To Develop Web Services That Plug Into A
Service-Oriented Architecture
Today, enterprises are looking to expose their infrastructure components as
Web services and build SOA-based solutions with the ultimate goal of reusing
the components and reducing costs; however, the rigidity of many mainframes
makes this goal unattainable for many companies. HIS 2004 gives customers the
tools to build XML web services, which ultimately can be consumed and reused
in an SOA-based solution to reach this goal. In addition, Microsoft has made a
number of critical investments in HIS 2004 that will bolster customers'
ability to integrate disparate applications and improve interoperability
between IBM's host systems and DB2 databases and Microsoft Windows Server and
Microsoft SQL Server. Those investments include the following:
- Transaction Integrator. TI enables Windows developers to publish and extend
business rules in mainframe Customer Information Control System (CICS),
Information Management System (IMS) and AS/400 applications as XML Web
services. Integrated with Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework, TI is a
powerful enterprise development environment for rapidly building
mission-critical applications that target any device and integrate with any
platform.
- Managed provider for IBM's DB2 database. The managed provider enables
developers to publish vital data stored in IBM's DB2 database as XML Web
services and integrate DB2 data with solutions based on Windows Forms, Web
Forms, Web services or Microsoft Office System productivity applications such
as Excel and InfoPath.
- TI Host-Initiated Processing (HIP). HIP allows a Windows Server-based
computer to function as a peer to an IBM mainframe and AS/400 computer,
enabling customers to build truly distributed peer-to-peer applications and
move portions of their host application logic and data to a more
cost-effective infrastructure based on Windows Server and SQL Server.
- Enterprise single sign-on (ESSO). ESSO delivers a solution for
authenticating security credentials between Windows Active Directory and
non-Windows systems, enabling seamless authentication between HIS 2004,
BizTalk Server 2004, IBM mainframe and midrange systems, and key IBM
applications such as CICS, IMS, DB2 and MQSeries.
- IP-DLC (data link control) Link Service. IP-DLC Link Service supports
industry-standard Systems Network Architecture (SNA) over IP routing so that
branch-deployed and centrally deployed HIS 2004 computers can connect directly
to z900 mainframes via high-speed IP networks. This means enterprises will not
need to remotely administer branch cluster controllers, utilize expensive data
link switching (DLSw)-capable routers, or maintain costly front-end
processors. Instead, with HIS 2004, enterprises can continue to consolidate
their network infrastructure while supporting the same level of SNA-compatible
applications and services.
Strong TSYS Solution Built On HIS 2004
TSYS, the nation's largest provider of electronic payment processing, needed
to develop a more flexible solution for its 600-person call center, a solution
integrated with mainframe systems that hold critical customer information.
TSYS is now using HIS 2004 in its call center to further improve performance,
integrating its mainframe resources with its Windows-based environment and
creating an SOA-based solution so it can reuse the services its developers
create.
"Our previous solution was sufficient in that it allowed us to access our data
and information on the mainframe, but we sacrificed a great deal in terms of
flexibility, manageability and cost. In the end, the solution was far too
costly, far too rigid and far too hard to manage, given the technical
advancements Microsoft offered in the form of Host Integration Server," said
Tim Kelly, director of distributed technologies at TSYS. "HIS 2004 represents
a major leap forward in delivering connectivity to host applications and data.
The ability to create SOA-based solutions around the mainframe will deliver
significant value to our company."
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