Putting COM and CORBA on the Same Page
Getting COM and CORBA components to work seamlessly together stillrequires some degree of system integration work, especially when attempting toput Web front ends on internal systems. New tools entering the market promisebetter and faster integration of COM and CORBA components within Web andnon-Web environments.
This past summer Actional -- formerly known as Visual Edge Software --announced one of the first server products to integrate and extend COM and CORBAcomponents for Web-based applications. Actional's COM/CORBA Control Brokerallows users to view all systems business interfaces as if they were a singlesystem. Using COM/CORBA Control Broker, development teams can assemble a rangeof components -- including COM, DCOM, CORBA, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), andAutomation -- into Web applications.
Recent Actional alliances will enable companies building interfaces toSAP, PeopleSoft, and Delano Technology systems to extend various components outto Web middleware applications.
For example, Actional's Control Broker was recently certified tointegrate with PeopleSoft 7.5. The system gives customers real-time access tobusiness services and information within a PeopleSoft system from any markettouchpoint -- whether the touchpoint is the Web site, call center, helpdesk, oronline trading system. A version released for SAP's mySAP.com e-marketplacesystem enables companies to incorporate existing business services intomySAP.com Marketplace, and also serves as a transaction engine within thatenvironment. Under the terms of a licensing agreement Delano integratedActional Control Broker into its e-business offerings.
The integration software is finding a number of uses, including a newgeneration of Web-based risk management systems evolving in the financialservices sector. Dresdner Bank has deployed Actional Control Broker as theintegration component for its implementation of Deal Analyzer, a Web-based,risk-adjusted loan pricing tool. Actional Control Broker serves as the linkbetween the bank's Microsoft desktop and Web server environments.
Dresdner Bank relies on economic research and analysis data from DealAnalyzer software when making credit and lending decisions. To make that dataavailable on demand to executives, relationship managers, and credit officersat various locations in the bank, Dresdner Bank realized that ahigh-throughput, low-latency integration link was required. Dresdner Bank'schallenge was to keep this link responsive during heavy query loads.
Actional Control Broker was deployed to help decrease response times byoffloading business services to loan officers' workstations. The resultingincreased performance "is crucial when time is of the essence," saysBrendan McInerney, vice president and head of credit risk modeling in grouprisk control at Dresdner. "Another clear advantage is the ability tointegrate our existing applications so that they appear completely native tothe new environment. We will be able to integrate information from DealAnalyzer with our Web-based intranet user interface. This will streamline andenhance the way we make lending decisions without requiring critical changes toour existing infrastructure."
Index:
Actional Corp., Mountain View, Calif., www.actional.com
SAP AG, Walldorf, Germany, www.sap.com
PeopleSoft Inc., Pleasanton, Calif., www.peoplesoft.com
Delano Technology Corp., Markham, Ontario, www.delanotech.com
Dresdner Bank AG, Frankfurt, Germany, www.dresdner-bank.com