WebSphere Business Integration Server

What does WebSphere® Business Integration Server offer in terms of business needs?

• Process Automation: Coordinates business process activities that span multiple applications, which may be geographically local or remote, internal or external to an organization.
• Process and Workforce Management: Coordinates long-lived activities that span multiple systems and workforce groups. Avoid bottlenecks by automating and managing task list assignment, rather than specific emails to individuals.
• Application Integration: Coordinates information flows by transformation, distribution and enrichment of in-flight messages across the enterprise.
• Application Connectivity: Connect applications, technologies, industry standards, data sources, and mainframes within and outside the enterprise.
• Integrated Visual Tooling: Manage, design, test, and deploy business process solutions in a team development environment.

What does Process Integration mean?
Process Integration allows different business processes to communicate with each other to complete one business transaction. Each process involved in the transaction needs to perform one or more business activities in order to complete this business transaction.

What is the benefit of Process Integration?
Process Integration integrates and simplifies business processes using secure and scalable technology. It integrates the Web with existing business processes across multiple operating platforms to accelerate e-business initiatives for customers, suppliers, partners and employees.

What does "Application Connectivity" integration mean?
Application Connectivity integration is the use of middleware to enable connectivity between applications. It allows applications to share and leverage information between each other and from other sources.

What is the benefit of Application Connectivity integration?
Application Connectivity integration reduces implementation time. Middleware enables an application to communicate with other applications, which are connected to the middleware, without writing a point-to-point interface to each of the applications. It allows companies to bring new customers online and reducing cost when rolling out new services. Application Connectivity integration will enable companies to extend their reach beyond company boundaries to integrate with other business partners with extensive security and performance capability.

Why should I buy WebSphere Business Integration Server?
WebSphere Business Integration is ideal for all Process Integration situations. It is a comprehensive integration offering for deployment within a business. It encourages top-down design, and bottom-up implementation of business integration initiatives. It allows customers to select an information centric project as the entry point to Process Integration, without the need to make a hard and fast decision that application connectivity is the end game. This product also allows a customer who has already chosen an infrastructure based on Application Connectivity and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) strategies to move to the power of process integration.

Does WebSphere Business Integration Server V4.3 support Solaris® Version 7?
No. WebSphere Business Integration Server customers should stay on Version 4.2.2 if they are still running the Workflow Server on Solaris 7. Solaris 9 has been added as a supported platform.

What are the key highlights of the WebSphere Business Integration Server V4.3 offering?
WebSphere Business Integration Server V4.3 updates V4.2.2 as follows:

• Support for:
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux® 3.0 and SUSE LINUX 8.1 for Intel® 32-bit platforms.
  • Microsoft® Windows® 2003 runtime.
  • Sun® Solaris® 9 (Solaris 7 support withdrawn).
• New feature and performance release of WebSphere InterChange Server and Toolset.
• Eclipse Open Standards compatibility with WebSphere Studio AD/IE 5.1.
• Adapter support for the new operating systems.

What are the key highlights of the WebSphere InterChange Server V4.3 offering?

• Linux for Intel 32 bit architecture.
• Microsoft Windows 2003 and Sun Solaris 9.
• JavaTM 1.4.2 and Eclipse 2.1.
• Role-based Access, Logging, and Privacy.
• Large Business Object support.
• Dynamic (Hot) deployment of adapters and artefacts.
• Deployment time configuration of artefacts.
• JMS Performance enhancements including optimised WIP (OWIP).
• Restricted usage authorizations for DB2® as ICS repository.
• Restricted usage authorizations for WebSphere BI Adapters have been added for:
  • Web services
  • WMQ
  • JMS
  • Workflow
  • Message broker
• Establishment authorizations have been added for:
  • Adapter framework
  • Data handler for XML

What are the key highlights of the WebSphere Business Integration Toolset V4.3?

• Eclipse Workbench upgraded to 2.1 compatible with WebSphere Studio AD/IE V5.1.
• Activity Editor - Various fixes and enhancements have been made including import/export of activity definitions and contextual labeling of custom function blocks. The properties of custom function blocks can now be configured directly from the Map Designer tool.
• Map Designer has been enhanced with auto-mapping features. Auto-mapping can be set to ignore upper/lower case differences, ignore mismatched data types, and map by prefix or suffix. A reverse mapping capability is added to speed up the creation of target maps from source maps. Synonym mapping is also added in this release. The term applies to mapping multiple, alternative source element names to a single target element name.
• Integrated Test Environment (ITE) now supports the connection to any ICS started as a test server, local or remote, for unit testing of collaboration processes. This removes the restriction of installing an ICS on each developer's workstation to use the ITE.
• Connector Configurator - a short description column is added to standard properties for consistency with the configuration properties sheet. A hot button capability is provided to display extended help files.
• Collaboration API for failed flows is provided to support custom administration solutions for failed flows outside of ICS.
• New Deployment Configuration Tool configures the parameters of objects just prior to their deployment to an ICS, overriding values set at design time.
• Compile/Deploy Progress Indicator.
• The import/export facilities in System Manager also recognize the Java class files added to the JAR file used for deployment, import, and export.
• IBM XML parsers replace Apache Xerces parsers.

If I have purchased separately an earlier addition of MQSeries Workflow, CrossWorlds InterChange Server, or MQ Series Integrator, can I trade up my licenses to WebSphere Business Integration Server?
Yes, ask your IBM sales representative about trade-up pricing.

Is WebSphere MQ Workflow still available as a standalone offering?
Yes it is. The standalone product continues to excel--delivering IBM's WebSphere Business Integration solutions to zSeries™) (OS/390®) platform customers and for platforms not yet supported by WebSphere Business Integration Server.

Is WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker available as a standalone offering ?
Yes it is. The Adapter for WebSphere MQ Integrator Broker has also been renamed to reflect the rebranding of the broker.

Is WebSphere InterChange Server available as a standalone offering?
Yes, but we recommend WebSphere Business Integration Server. There is no price difference between WebSphere Business Integration Server and WebSphere InterChange Server, but there is a considerable benefit in terms of value of the process integration and application connectivity components included.

Which platforms are supported in WebSphere Business Integration Server 4.3?
Windows 2000, AIX®, Solaris, and HP-UX and Linux are the primary platforms. It is important, however, to check the detailed hardware and software requirements for each component in the product when planning a solution configuration. The Workflow runtime server for example is not ported to Linux at this time. The Toolset remains available on Windows 2000 and Windows XP only.

Which Adapters are available out of the box with WebSphere Business Integration Server?

Adapters are included to connect the InterChange Server with Workflow server and Message Broker. These are the WebSphere MQ Integrator Broker adapter, and WebSphere MQ Workflow Adapter. Also included are three adapters- each licensed to connect the InterChange Server to a single application, or other IBM middleware products. These are the WebSphere MQ, JMS, and WebServices adapters. We recommend separate per-establishment licenses be acquired for WebSphere Business Integration Adapters where multiple applications are connected using the same adapter.

Where can I find the latest information on the business applications supported by complementary WebSphere Business Integration Adapters?
The Web site WebSphere Business Integration Adapters is kept up to date with the latest information on prebuilt adapters, or ask your local IBM sales representative about your specific needs, to see if this can be provided as a services engagement.

Are all adapters supported on all of the platforms WebSphere Business Integration Server supports?
The technical adapters and adapters for the common business applications will be supported but we recommend checking your specific application is supported.

Does WebSphere Business Integration Server include any pre-built collaboration business processes?
No, WebSphere Business Integration Collaborations are complementary product offerings to WebSphere Business Integration Server, and whilst we package them on the same media as the InterChange Server and the Toolset, They must be purchased separately.

What is WebSphere Business Integration Collaboration Foundation?
Collaboration Foundation is a generic template that a customer can use to accelerate the development of their own collaboration process, where there is not a suitable collaboration in our portfolio of cross-industry and industry specific collaborations. Collaboration Foundation offers huge advantages by providing the core process template for a typical integration scenario with error handling already built in. In the 4.2.2 release, The Collaboration Foundation templates are available for education and development use only. The WebSphere Business Integration Collaboration Collaboration Template authorization needs to be purchased to deploy collaboration objects created from the templates.
Find the latest information on industry support for WebSphere Business Integration Collaborations.

Why is the toolset not named WebSphere InterChange Server Toolset?
We are positioning the InterChange Server as a component of WebSphere Business Integration Server. All the artefacts (flows, business objects, message definitions) developed by the tools of the components of WebSphere Business Integration Server can be managed on a project basis in the Eclipse open standards based solution studio / workbench today, with the option of plugging in a preferred third party solution for version management. We intend to transition all tooling to the Eclipse standard for usability, look and feel over time.

Does WebSphere Business Integration Toolset license include the design tooling for the workflow and message broker components?
The workflow and message broker tools remain as independent tools covered by the requirements of their respective product licenses. The artifacts (workflows, message flows, and message definitions can be exported into the studio to take advantage of the management capabilities provided by the WebSphere (Eclipse) Workbench, which is also configurable to launch the tools.

Does WebSphere Business Integration Toolset include a copy of Rational ClearCase LT - or other third party code management product?
No. Support is provided to plug in third party products such as Rational ClearCase but a copy is not included in this release.

Does WebSphere Business Integration Toolset include a copy of DB2 Database?
No. The only role for DB2 with the toolset is to support ICS when testing collaborations. WebSphere Business Integration Server itself permits DB2 to be installed for the sole use of the components of WebSphere Business Integration Server. We recommend developers testing ICS artifacts on a client workstation to configure the local ICS database to connect to a database instance on a machine covered by the WebSphere Business Integration Server license.

Are there implementation services available for the WebSphere Business Integration Server?
Yes. A comprehensive services program is available from an initial business integration opportunity assessment, design and planning, to implementation, deployment and management. Contact your local IBM Sales representative or visit the IBM WebSphere Business Integration website for further details.

How is IBM WebSphere Business Integration supported?
The normal Support line channels will support the IBM WebSphere Business Integration.

Can I upgrade individual components of WebSphere Business Integration Server?
No. You will receive upgrades for IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server in a regular manner. Should components be individually updated to a new release, the latest releases will be subsequently incorporated in an updated version of WebSphere Business Integration Server.

What is recommended for Business Process Optimization and ROI (return on investment) analysis?
IBM WebSphere Business Integration Modeler visually creates business processes, and run simulations, comparing estimated and actual elapsed time in each activity. By associating costs to work performed, before and after types of analysis can predict return on investment of implementing a process improvement. Automatic report generation included.

What is recommended for Business Activity Monitoring?
IBM WebSphere Business Integration Monitor, monitors the business process in real-time and gives business managers the ability to perform administrative functions immediately as needed, without interrupting ongoing transactions. Reports can be generated utilizing current and historical activity performances, employee workloads and bottlenecks. Continuous Business Process Management is also fulfilled by taking all data metrics from the Monitor and redirecting them back into the Modeler (Workbench and Workbench Server) for further enhancement and improvement.