Visible Web Services

Development Evolves for Better Control

A new application development tool from Confluent Software Inc. underscores both the promise and challenge of Web services. Confluent's CORE for BEA is designed to help Java developers build management, analysis, and security functions into Web services applications before deployment. In June, these new features will be available exclusively inside BEA's WebLogic Workshop development platform.

Confluent founder and CEO, Rajiv Gupta, says the new tool gives developers unprecedented visibility into their creations. "The typical development scenario has the developer throwing the application over the wall after it is done," said Gupta. "Then, when the application breaks, you have to recreate the run-time context to try and figure out what went wrong. With CORE for BEA, the developer gets a real-time window into the application as it is running."

Corey Ferengul, Meta Group analyst, says vendors like Confluent are trying to change the paradigm of application management. "Traditional management is observational," says Ferengul. "What Confluent has announced is in-line management — your management tool sits in the path of transactions and can actually affect what happens."

Confluent is betting heavily that the dream of Web services — a vision of a loosely coupled, highly distributed, heterogeneous, and robust computing architecture — will become reality. But, after more than a year of fanfare, the dream lacks substance.

It will materialize, according to Ferengul. "The financial case for Web services is just too compelling," he said, adding, "but it may take a few years."

Meanwhile, expect acquisitions. "This year I expect to see some Web services management vendors like Confluent, AmberPoint Inc., and Talking Blocks Inc. acquired by application server vendors," says analyst Brent Sleeper with the Stencil Group.

The application server vendors may not be the only ones shopping. "Some of the big management vendors like BMC and IBM/Tivoli will want to get into this space," adds Ferengul. "Companies like Confluent make prime acquisition targets."

Analyst Kimberly Knickle with AMR Research compares the Confluent announcement to a recent one from AmberPoint and Microsoft. "These partnerships are designed to encourage developers to use a particular platform."

The platforms divide between Microsoft, with .Net, and the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server vendors. This divide is another factor that makes the future of Web services unclear. Putting a positive spin on the war of the vendors, Gupta says, "It is true that having two platform standards means Web services applications won't be portable. However, both sides support a common set of protocols so we do still have interoperability."

Confluent CORE for BEA is aimed squarely at the J2EE development camp. Confluent also supports the Microsoft .Net environment, but Gupta declined to say whether his company is working on a similar deal with Microsoft.

Mark Leon [mrleon@usfca.edu] has been reporting on business and technology for the past seven years.

In this Issue: