02/29/2008

OpSource announced OpSource Connect. OpSource Connect allows SaaS and Web companies to consume and publish multiple Web services across an enterprise service bus, allowing integration of SaaS with legacy applications behind the firewall.

ebizQ received the following:

Ben Pring, Research Vice President, Gartner, noted, “SaaS solutions are here to stay. Our forecasts indicate that software-as-a-service will have a compound annual growth rate of 22.1% through 2011 for the aggregate enterprise application software markets, more than double the growth rate for total enterprise software. As use of SaaS broadens and deepens, products and services that integrate SaaS solutions with existing in-house or other SaaS solutions have become more relevant and more valuable to enterprises.”

OpSource Connect will change the way companies build and deploy SaaS applications, and the way those applications interact with and reach new markets. At the core of OpSource Connect is the OpSource Services Bus, a multi-tenant enterprise services bus. It provides a “write once, integrate with all” capability for SaaS applications and Web services. The OSB allows applications to consume Web services such as OpSource Billing™, OpSource Analytics™ and OpSource End-User Support™; integrate with other OSB applications; integrate with third-party non-OSB applications in the cloud; and integrate with legacy enterprise applications behind the corporate firewall. These capabilities will allow SaaS applications to be built more quickly and less expensively than ever before, and will open new markets for SaaS products. OpSource Connect application integration is available immediately.

Integrating applications in the cloud via OpSource Connect is quick and easy. A complete set of OpSource Connect APIs provide a powerful and flexible integration capability for any application. As an alternative, companies can use Boomi for OpSource Connect™, an easy-to-use, visual drag-and-drop application integration environment from Boomi, Inc. This provides a fast, clear-cut way to create integrations with popular non-OSB applications including Salesforce® and NetSuite®. Behind the firewall integrations are also straightforward, using OpSource Sockets™, which provide integration with legacy enterprise applications such as SAP® and Intuit QuickBooks®. The first OpSource Sockets are based on Boomi Atoms, agents that reside behind the firewall that enable integration without the need for specialized software packages or hardware appliances. OpSource Connect APIs, Boomi for Opsource Connect and OpSource Sockets are available immediately.

With the release of OpSource On-Demand Summer 2008, OpSource Connect will add the ability for SaaS companies to use the OSB to not only consume, but also publish their applications as Web services. Such publishing will open up new markets for SaaS companies, and allow each SaaS application that is published as a Web service to effectively become a platform in its own right. To assist SaaS companies with enabling their applications as Web services, OpSource is creating the Web Services Enablement Program™.

For SaaS and Web companies that require assistance in integrating their applications in the cloud or behind the firewall, OpSource is creating the OpSource Connect Certified Integrator Program™. And to make it easier for SaaS companies to find Web services that utilize the OSB, OpSource is creating the OpSource Connect Application Directory™. This directory will be continually updated as companies publish their applications as Web services over the OSB, enabling SaaS and Web companies to quickly expand their offerings and take advantage of new markets.

Treb Ryan, OpSource’s CEO, said, “In a Web services architecture, services can be used and re-used very efficiently, reducing costs and accelerating time-to-market dramatically. OpSource Connect is a breakthrough in Web services for the on-demand world. Now, companies can generate higher levels of success by consuming Web services to reduce development costs and speed time to market. And, with OpSource On-Demand Summer ‘08, companies can publish applications as Web services for other on-demand companies to consume. This extends revenue opportunities and expands market reach for everyone across the SaaS ecosystem.”

“Integrating behind the firewall is especially important as Web and SaaS applications become mission-critical for the enterprise,” Ryan added. “Today, only the largest SaaS companies have the ability to integrate their applications with legacy systems and other Web applications. OpSource Connect will help SaaS companies of any size overcome the integration hurdles and break out of the SaaS-only box. This will speed adoption of SaaS in larger enterprise environments and open the door for on-demand companies to cultivate business with large systems integrators.”