The agreement is with CONNX Solutions, which provides middleware for SQL access to legacy data sources like IMS, Adabas, ISAM, VSAM, CA-IDMS and others. The resulting offering, to be rebranded soaConnect-SQL, will initially include an integration to the piece of its mainframe SOA offering that actually exposes the service as standard WSDL.
However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. OpenConnect’s distinguishing feature is that it leverages the company’s original screen-scraping technology to expose web services. It claims that using screen scrapes shows what processes are actually being used. By comparison, if you parse code into XML, you could easily wind up exposing long-inactive or broken processes.
In contrast to IBM, which requires a WebSphere middle tier approach, or SOAs Software, which focuses on service-enabling CICS transactions, OpenConnect deploys an agent that actually listens to its screen scraper to see what mainframe processes are still actively being used. It brands that piece of its offering soaComprehend.
Longer term, OpenConnect intendeds to extend soaComprehend so it can listen for active data sources, and thereby further automate the process of exposing data access as a web service. It’s part of broader plans to also listen and automate the service enabling of MQ messages that are also common in mainframe environments.
The company, which is very careful about making pronouncements, actually concluded the agreement with CONNX last month after a six-month period of development. But it didn’t want to announce the agreement until now because it didn’t want to start booking deals until the field teams got fully up to speed.
