Legacy app servers get Web services

Two vendors are unveiling software designed to make it easier for companies to bring legacy applications to the Web.

WRQ this week is expected to announce a new version of its Verastream integration server. Separately, Atttachmate last week announced enhancements to its myExtra Smart Connectors Mainframe Edition.

Industry experts estimate as much as 60% to 70% of corporate data resides on mainframes. The latest products from WRQ and Attachmate put a Web services spin on traditional host connectors; the intent is to expose mainframe resources as services that can be reused in new loosely coupled, composite applications.

The two products are designed to let customers tap into legacy application logic and data - contained in host systems such as HP's e3000, VT and OpenVMS, and IBM's OS 390 and AS/400, - and create new applications using skills and tools they already possess.

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Two vendors are unveiling software designed to make it easier for companies to bring legacy applications to the Web.

WRQ this week is expected to announce a new version of its Verastream integration server. Separately, Atttachmate last week announced enhancements to its myExtra Smart Connectors Mainframe Edition.

Industry experts estimate as much as 60% to 70% of corporate data resides on mainframes. The latest products from WRQ and Attachmate put a Web services spin on traditional host connectors; the intent is to expose mainframe resources as services that can be reused in new loosely coupled, composite applications.

The two products are designed to let customers tap into legacy application logic and data - contained in host systems such as HP's e3000, VT and OpenVMS, and IBM's OS 390 and AS/400, - and create new applications using skills and tools they already possess.

For example, in Verastream 5.5, WRQ strengthened its ties to Microsoft's Visual Studio .Net and BizTalk Server 2004 to let developers work directly with legacy components from within the Microsoft .Net development environment.

WRQ also added new event handlers, designed to maximize code reuse, to Verastream. With this feature a developer could create, for example, a utility that translates cryptic product codes from a legacy inventory application into easily understood product descriptions; this translation tool then could be isolated and used in subsequent development projects, says Eric Varness, director of product management at WRQ.

"The event handlers extend complex host applications in a way that can be encapsulated and reused from model to model," Varness says.

A key new feature of Attachmate's myExtra Smart Connector Mainframe Edition 4.0.2 is that it can run on a mainframe, eliminating the need for a separate server. Because it runs on a mainframe, customers can take advantage of the mainframe's reliability and performance capabilities, says Markus Nitschke, vice president of marketing and product management at Attachmate. In addition, mainframe-resident connectors enable greater transaction control and access to capabilities such as two-phase commit for financial processing.

Additionally, Attachmate added a new GUI-based management tool, called Studio, to its platform. Studio provides a graphical console for configuring adapters, importing and testing metadata, and managing the runtime environment, Nitschke says.

Attachmate's myExtra Smart Connector Mainframe Edition 4.0.2 is priced at starting at $70,000. WRQ's Verastream 5.5 is expected to be available later this month; pricing for enterprise integration projects starts at $65,000. The two vendors compete for shares of the terminal emulation and legacy integration markets, along with vendors such as Jacada, IBM, NetManage and Seagull Software.

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