Middleware and enterprise application integration software vendor Level 8 Systems Inc has launched new versions of its Geneva Message Queuing product and the HPS application development from its November, 1998 acquisition of Seer Technologies Inc. The two launches form part of the Cary, North Carolina-based companyÆs transition from messaging company to middleware and EAI player with an e-business focus, a strategy enhanced by last monthÆs acquisition of fellow EAI vendor Template Software Inc.
Level 8 product manager Greg Lomow said that as a result of the Template acquisition the company expects to report revenue of over $100m in its fiscal 2000, ending on October 31 next year. Buying Template extends Level 8Æs product portfolio, he explained, because while the buyer had traditionally worked from the bottom up in EAI, Template took a top-down approach, offering workflow and more high-end business applications.
Version 2.0 of GMQ adds features to the earlier one such as once-only delivery of messages, avoiding multiple buying orders, for instance, as well as more systems management tools. The product is Microsoft-specific, enabling Windows users to connect to applications on other platforms via a dialog between MicrosoftÆs MSMQ package on the client and GMQ on the hosts. As such, said Lomow, part of the software making that dialog possible, a piece called Level 8 Message Queuing Connector, will actually ship on the Windows 2000 CD when it eventually comes to market.
The HPS 5.4.1. product is being brought to market now, Lomow went on, but will be rebranded as part of the Geneva suite of products next year, probably being called Geneva Application Builder. It enables applications to be built and stored on a central repository, then go out to heterogeneous platforms such as mainframe, Unix, DB2, and SQL via a code generation engine.
The current release is for network computing, supporting thin client applications such as Java Beans and HTML forms running on browsers, said Lomow. For next year, he revealed, Level 8 is readying a further release, to be called Geneva Application Builder 6.0. This version will go to beta in the first half of 2000 and will support Enterprise Java Beans, while later version will move into the XML environment.
For other applications, such as mobile access to networks via the WAP protocol, Lomow foresaw a need for partnerships with other companies. As for further acquisitions, he said Level 8 is currently in talks with a company providing rule-base security products to enhance that aspect of its portfolio.
