Filling out its SOA product line, IBM on Tuesday announced its acquisition of XML hardware maker DataPower, which offers products
to boost performance of business processes in SOA environments.
The acquisition addresses the need to make previously siloed data and software applications interoperate better, according
to IBM. It also helps simplify SOA deployments by hiding the complexities of handling different message formats, IBM said.
Founded in 1999, DataPower improves security and management of processes, and increases speed in processing transactions,
IBM noted. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
"What DataPower does is it provides an appliance that helps improve the simplicity, the performance, and security of SOA implementations
so customers can more easily deploy SOA-type applications," said Robert LeBlanc, general manager for IBM's WebSphere software
group, during a teleconference.
IBM and DataPower officials said IBM's WebSphere and Tivoli products already have been jointly deployed with DataPower systems
in many installations. DataPower complements, rather than replaces, WebSphere, according to LeBlanc.
"Really, what you're doing is offloading some of the XML message processing to improve the overall throughput of the system,"
LeBlanc said.
In addition to selling existing DataPower products, IBM intends to introduce a family of appliances that utilize DataPower
technology. Product road maps are expected later this year, but IBM is eying functionalities such as security and process
management. Integration of DataPower technology with IBM blade servers also is planned.
Analysts said IBM's purchase of DataPower shows that IBM understands that SOA is not only about software.
"IBM is clearly showing that software alone won't solve the totality of SOA challenges," said Senior Analyst Ron Schmelzer
of ZapThink.
"With IBM's entry into the network appliance space for SOA, we think this will turn up the heat on the other platform vendors
such as BEA and Oracle to consider how they too will broaden their coverage of SOA beyond simply software and professional
services," Schmelzer said.
"DataPower'sproduct suite of integration, security, and performance appliances will fill various holes within IBM's broad
SOA offering," said Jason Bloomberg, also a senior analyst at ZapThink.
Current DataPower products include the X150 Integration Device, which streamlines SOA infrastructure; the XA35 XML Accelerator
for XML processing, and the XS40 XML Security Gateway, to provide message-level Web services security.
DataPower products will continue to function with rival middleware offerings. "But obviously, the optimization between DataPower
and WebSphere will be something that is a huge advantage," LeBlanc said.
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