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Biggest WebSphere update in 2 yrs.: IBM

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CIOL Bureau
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SAN FRANCISCO - IBM late on Tuesday announced the biggest update of its popular WebSphere business software in two years, adding features such as automatically detecting and fixing problems.

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WebSphere, software known as middleware that helps companies build and run Web-based programs, can now detect everything from a small glitch in a network to power failures or natural disaster and take actions in a matter seconds to save and process Web-based business transactions, the world's largest computer company said.

International Business Machines Corp. said that previously, it could have taken hours or days to recover under the older systems. The Armonk, New York-based company said the updated WebSphere Application Server Version 6 can protect customers against network and server crashes that can cost millions of dollars per hour.

The many features and functions in the new version are also better integrated and work together better than in the previous version, said Mike Gilpin, an analyst with market research firm Forrester Research.

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"One of the knocks on IBM is they've got all these tools and products but they're not all that well integrated," Gilpin said. "This is an important release and I've been anticipating its arrival for quite some time in connection with the technology trends I've been tracking."

One of these trends is what's known as a Service Oriented Architecture, Gilpin said, which is essentially chopping up specific functions of business software programs into reusable bits, called services, which are then propagated throughout a company's computer systems so they can be used in different parts of a company.

The idea behind it is that by mixing and matching business functions, processes and services in real time using industry-standard software components rather than by manual software code writing, it allows companies to move faster and save money, IBM said.

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IBM said that the latest version is expected before the end of the year.

WebSphere competes against WebLogic applications server software, which acts as a sort of "glue" connecting the operating system and applications running on top of it, from BEA Systems Inc., and Oracle Corp.'s Application Server 10g.

Microsoft Corp. doesn't offer an application server per se, Gilpin said, noting that the company works the function of application server software into its Windows operating system itself and into its Visual Studio application building software tools.

 



 



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