Bill Gates weighs in on XML and interoperability.
Category: Enterprise software & integration (Page 28 of 33)
“Binary XML” sounds like an oxymoron. It is, after all, the plain text encoding of XML that makes it so easy to work with. Heck, I still use the “vi” editor to make quick changes to XML and HTML files.
Writing in the Australian edition of Builder.com, Martin LaMonica provides a nice roundup of the pros and cons of some efforts to develop a binary XML. He summarizes some related projects at Sun and the W3C, and has some very lively quotes from XML guru (and Gilbane Report Editor Emeritus) Tim Bray. (And if you want to hear directly from Tim on the issue of binary XML, his blog has plenty of related entries.)
I’ll leave it up to people much smarter than me to figure this one out, but the discussion of binary XML is related to the larger question of performance. As XML is more and more pervasive, organizations will need to find ways to deal with performance impacts over time. We talked about XML hardware in this context a few days ago, and ZDNet is reporting today that Cisco may be getting in the XML hardware game. Stay tuned.
DataMirror Corporation introduced Integration Suite 2005, a solution designed to solve real-time data integration challenges across relational databases and disparate computing platforms. DataMirror Integration Suite 2005 combines integration technology with global services. The data integration functionality and services is interoperable, allowing customers to utilize specific data integration capabilities separately or in unison. The Suite also supports a host of business applications, including active data warehousing, business intelligence, business activity monitoring, customer relationship management, e-Business, data auditing/compliance, data distribution, and mobile computing. DataMirror introduces a new version of its data integration software solution, DataMirror Transformation Server as a core component of Integration Suite 2005. With increased functionality aimed at helping companies share up-to-date data with customers, partners, and employees, Transformation Server 5.2 includes added flexibility, interoperability, and performance. www.datamirror.com
SchemaLogic and Meta Integration Technology announced they have formed a technology alliance where SchemaLogic customers will be able to utilize over 50 additional adaptors to create a shared, cross-system, “active” metadata repository. Meta Integration Model Bridge connects to databases or information models from IBM, Oracle, Sybase, SAS, Business Objects, IBM Rational, Computer Associates, OMG and W3C. SchemaLogic provides a framework for shared metadata based on an active repository, a unified information model, collaborative change management with impact analysis, notification and approval, plus the synchronization of approved changes to subscribing systems using XML, SOAP and Web Services. This provides a holistic view of information assets including content, data and XML: who is responsible for each asset, how they’re organized (structure and semantics) and the relationships among them. Information architects, database analysts, content system managers and developers can see and control metadata definitions, taxonomies, hierarchical lists and vocabularies in one repository, available throughout the enterprise. www.metaintegration.com, www.schemalogic.com
Ipedo announced their software platform now handles concurrent assimilation of complex information sets from Oracle 9i, DB2, MySQL, SQL Server and Web Services. The information integration was done using Ipedo’s XML-based views and query technologies. With this new capability, Ipedo allows enterprises to create custom information views on demand. The XML-driven EII capabilities of the Ipedo XML Information Hub go beyond integration and allow custom assembly and persistence of information, in the variety of industry standard formats. The testing was done using the Ipedo XML Information Hub 3.3 with Oracle 9iR2, DB2 Universal Database v3.1, MySQL Pro v4.0, SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, and a public Web Service from Google. Information was integrated using XQuery to quickly aggregate real-time business information across multiple sources, leveraging Ipedo’s XML Views, Web Services Views, Content Conversion and Universal XQuery Engine capabilities. www.Ipedo.com
Context Media, Inc. announced the availability of Interchange PortalPLUS, which enables organizations to make portals their primary interface for accessing and managing digital content stored anywhere in the enterprise. Interchange PortalPLUS provides out-of-the box integration between Context Media’s content integration software, Interchange Suite, and portal platforms, including Sun Microsystems’ Sun ONE Portal Server, BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere. This allows organizations using portals in conjunction with Interchange Suite to access enterprise content stored in disparate content management, document management and digital asset management systems directly through their portal interface. Interchange PortalPLUS leverages Web services technology to provide access to and management of all forms of digital content and content management systems through a portal framework. Interchange PortalPLUS is available immediately for the Sun ONE Portal Server 6. Interchange Portal Plus for BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere will be available early in the fourth quarter of 2003. Pricing for Interchange PortalPLUS begins at $25K. www.contextmedia.com
Venetica announced the general availability of VeniceBridge 5.0. The release increases the types of content repositories that can be integrated with enterprise applications and extends the cross-system services available through VeniceBridge. VeniceBridge 5.0 expands its universal view to include a common inbox to disparate workflow engines such as Documentum and FileNET, and independent BPM engines such as IBM MQSeries Workflow. Target engines also include Microsoft BizTalk, Open Text, Staffware and others. In addition to documents, scanned images and media assets, VeniceBridge 5.0 makes statements, invoices and other information stored in enterprise report management (ERM) systems available. Current ERM systems include FileNet Report Manager and IBM OnDemand. The release also includes an event subscription model that can provide notification when a document or workflow change has been made. Other enhancements have been included such as support for Linux and new features for handling of geographically dispersed content sources and extremely large content such as audio, video and high-resolution images. Venetica also announced support for JSR (Java Specification Request) 170. Their implementation of the Java Content Repository (JCR) API is written against the 0.7 draft of the standard.www.venetica.com
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) announced a2X, a proprietary company process that quickly and professionally converts printed or digital content into XML. a2X (pronounced “A-2-X”, for “Anything To XML”) can cost-effectively extend the value of any organization’s storehouse of learning materials by making those materials available to today’s Internet-using audience in the most strategically useful web format possible. a2X can accommodate virtually all common forms of printed and digital content. Supported standards include: Adobe PageMaker, FrameMaker, QuarkXpress, and Macromedia Flash files; Microsoft Word documents; PDF, HTML, and other online formats. Other capabilities found in a2X include XSL templates and a TIS-built publishing engine that transforms XML to HTML, using XSLT. Using XSL-FO (XSL Formatting Objects), a2X can also create accurate, print-quality PDF representations of the original printed page. www.tatainteractive.com
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