The Business Mashups platform includes the Mashup Composer, a visual design tool to connect applications and automate business processes, and Mashup Server which is a runtime engine and provides security.
Nathan Rawlins, senior director of product marketing at Serena said: Underlying application parts are linked together to build these mashups, with linkages done via Web services and SOA interfaces.
Mashups are tools which allow users to drag-and-drop software components and web services from an available palette to be assembled into a new application or service. According to Butler Group, the availability of mashup builders addressing different user communities will encourage the adoption of rich internet applications (RIAs).
The company plans to offer an initial set of 13 free, pre-built Business Mashups. These mashups are expected to automate common business and IT processes, including vacation requests, employee onboarding, sales discount approvals, and agile project management. Additionally, Business Mashups combine content and processes from many different systems using industry-standard service oriented architecture (SOA) and web services interfaces, making it possible to extend the functionality of existing applications, the company claimed.
According to the company, the tools for building Business Mashups will be free till they are deployed into production. The pricing for an on-premise, departmental implementation will start at $10,000.
In November 2007, Microsoft also unveiled an update of its new tool, the Popfly. It is Microsoft’s first application based on Silverlight, the flash like plug-in to the browser. Popfly, currently in beta stage, is a combination tool set and social network designed to enable non-technical users to build and share Mashups, gadgets, web pages and applications.
Source: ComputerWire daily updates
