lustratus LiteBytes

Previously I have blogged on the SoftwareAG acquisition of webMethods, and what it might mean.

Lustratus also produced a paper on the subject, here. I thought it was time for an update. now things are becoming clearer.

I congratulate SoftwareAG on listening to my comments! Well, at least partially….the company has brought together pieces from both the webMethods and SoftwareAG sides in the area of SOA, and has come up with its suite, offering an ESB (well, actually more than one), adapters, BPM, BAM and legacy and user interface integration support into an SOA suite, called – wait for it – webMethods SOA Suite!

The company has wisely decided to leverage the strength of the webMethods brand name, both in the integration/SOA space and also geographically in the US. My only criticism is that in fact I have been slightly misleading. In fact, I believe the full name is ‘Software AG webMethods SOA Suite’. I just hope leaving the Software AG name so prominently does not backfire.

It seems that the suite will be made up of webMethods BAM and BPM, together with a combination of SoftwareAG and webMethods integration infrastructure products. For example, Software AG’s CentraSite deals with registry/repository needs, and use is also made of Software AG’s connectivity power. So, for example, webMethods EntireX deals with turning legacy code into SOA services. The ESBs are a bit confusing – there appear to be 3. One is a regular ESB, one is an ESB+ (basically the webMethods integration backbone) and one is a lightweight integration tool aimed at partner network needs.

So how is the merger going down? Well, it seems that at least some webmethods customers are glad to see the combination. Apparently this is because webMethods was actually a mature start-up – that is, innovative but not necessarily strong in internal development/delivery/maintenance processes, whereas Software AG has a reputation for being a solid, experienced and mature software brand. So presumably webMethods customers hope Software AG will bring some additional discipline to product delivery and support.

Anyway, the proof of the pudding will be seeing whether the combination gains traction. I think it has a chance, although if only they had dropped the SoftwareAG brand from the suite altogether….

Steve