Actional Take Some, Unwrapping Web Services Management Wares For Windows
11/18/2003
Actional Corporation, a Web services management company, is shipping Actional for Microsoft, a new version of its Web services management solutions developed using the Microsoft .NET Framework, specifically for Windows environments.
As a result, “Organizations now have the most robust end-to-end solution to design, manage, adapt and scale enterprise-class Web services, allowing them to enjoy the cost and flexibility benefits of a
service-oriented architecture (SOA) while leveraging the power and scalability of the Microsoft Windows platform,” Actional says.
"Actional has demonstrated a complete and compelling vision for
bringing Web services applications under management in a
Microsoft-focused environment like ours," said Christopher Crowhurst,
vice president, enterprise architecture at Thomson Prometric, a part
of Thomson Corp. "We selected Actional not only because they
understand service-oriented architectures, but they also understand
the needs of our business. Actional's offerings enable us to advance
our service-oriented architecture in a stepwise fashion, addressing
today's requirements while allowing us to seamlessly ease into a
full-scale, enterprise solution as we need it."
Actional for Microsoft, which is plug-and-play compatible with all
other versions of the Actional Web services management platform, includes, in Actional’s words:
- Actional SOAPstation for Microsoft, Actional's powerful Web service
broker designed for deployment on the Microsoft .NET Framework
- Actional Looking Glass Server for Microsoft, Actional's service
network management and policy server and consoles, optimized to run on
the Microsoft .NET Framework
- A set of Actional Active Agents to monitor and manage Web service
activity across Windows deployment environments. The Actional Active
Agent for .NET, which has been available since March 2003, is now
being expanded to support Microsoft's Web Services Enhancements for
.NET (WSE) with plans to support the new Windows communications
technologies, code-named "Indigo." In addition, Actional is offering
the Actional Active Agent for Microsoft BizTalk Server (part of the Windows Server System)
- Actional Controls for Visual Studio .NET, enabling developers to
build applications that are responsive to conditions in their overall
service network
"With the release of Actional for Microsoft, Actional has
significantly enhanced the management capabilities available to
organizations that need to develop and deploy business-critical Web
services on the Microsoft .NET Framework," said Jason Bloomberg,
senior analyst, ZapThink. "With specially developed tools for Visual
Studio .NET developers, IT operations, IT planners, and business IT
users, Actional offers a smart, unique approach to service-oriented
management."
IN addition, the Actional for Microsoft line of products includes the
previously announced Actional Web Services Management Pack and Looking
Glass MOM Connector, which Actional says complement and extend the systems management capabilities of Microsoft Operations Manager with Web services instrumentation and active control.
"As the number of customers embracing Web services increases, so does
the demand for end-to-end management of systems and services," said
Mark Young, general manager of the Platform Strategy and Partner Group
at Microsoft. "We applaud Actional's effort to provide our joint
customers with a comprehensive solution for managing Web services that
enhances the availability and reliability for service-based
applications."
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