NetManage Bringing SOAP and WSDL to OnWeb
NetManage Inc. enables enterprises to expose legacy systems as Web services.
Adding key transport protocols, NetManage Inc. will enable enterprises to expose legacy systems as Web services this year. The company plans to add SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and WSDL (Web Services Description Language) with the next version of OnWeb.
According to David Burton, director of product marketing for OnWeb, NetManage will add SOAP and WSDL functionality to OnWeb 6.0, the next major release slated for the fourth quarter of this year.
The current version, OnWeb 5.2, already supports data in the XML, COM, and JavaBean formats, which enables communication with J2EE application servers. The addition of a full Web services implementation expands the way enterprises can integrate legacy systems into the overall infrastructure.
OnWeb is NetManage's host integration product. It enables enterprises to integrate applications residing on legacy systems (such as the IBM mainframe, iSeries, DEC VAX, and a variety of Unix platforms) into the greater business infrastructure.
SOAP allows HTTP requests to query data from a machine and send the data out on the network. WSDL describes the kind of data a Web service can provide.
Burton says customers have requested SOAP and WSDL because they believe the standards will help them accomplish needed integration projects. "It is more a response to what customers are asking for more than anything else," he says.