Object-oriented strategy begins to take shape
Although Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG has kept its object-oriented strategy pretty much under its hat until now, it is currently negotiating with one of the major object suppliers – likely candidates include Hewlett-Packard Co and Iona Technology Ltd – to take their CORBA-compliant Object Request Broker, object services and tools, as the basis of its object environment. The Broker will sit on top of operating systems ranging from Microsoft Corp’s Windows on personal computers to Sinix and other versions of Unix on workstations and servers, to BS2000 on mainframes. These systems will be linked using the Open Software Foundation’s Distributed Computing Environment. Siemens Nixdorf has also committed to taking Microsoft’s Cairo object-oriented version of Windows NT when that appears in 1995. Siemens Nixdorf, which supports the Public Windows Initiative and is trying to persuade Microsoft to put its application programming interfaces into the public domain, reckons that if it did, OLE 2.0 could be used as the link between CORBA-based environments and Cairo. In case Microsoft does not oblige, Siemens Nixdorf is looking for partners to help it develop a gateway that will convert Cairo and Object Linking & Embedding protocols to CORBA ones, and is defining exactly what its requirements are at the moment. Meanwhile, at the applications development level, Siemens Nixdorf is building graphics-based object-oriented versions of its Grapes software modelling and simulation tools, which it will launch at the CeBit computer fair in Hannover next month – Grape OO Designer will, among other things, enable users to model network relationships. The firm will use Motif as a front-end and also plans to license the Object Management Group’s Interface Definition Language. Furthermore, it says it will publish a statement of direction in the next couple of months, when its first object products will also be announced. SNMP Proxy Agent will enable users to manage personal computers that do not support SNMP in an SNMP-based network. The product runs under Sinix or Windows NT and provides network managers with objects and data from the personal computer via the Desktop Management Interface. Version 3.1 of Database Access Services will enable Sinix or personal computer clients to access BS2000/OSD databases. The product supports Microsoft’s Open Database Connectivity interface. Texas Instruments Inc’s IEF Information Engineering Facility will enable users to develop software under Sinix for use in other environments. The development process, from planning to implementation, is claimed to be mostly automated. Tools are also available for developing Oracle and Informix database applications. The Information Capture Environment product family, which undertakes automated forms capture, will be expanded to run not just on personal computers, but also under Siemens’ Sinix Unix.
C++ compiler for BS2000
Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG has released a C++ compiler for its BS2000 mainframes, enabling developers to build applications in C and C++ – C++ can be used to be used to develop object-oriented programs. The product is available now, and prices range from 5,000 to 500,000 in the UK.
Hewlett-Packard’s OpenView to be alternative to Transview
Siemens Nixdorf says it intends to offer Hewlett-Packard Co’s OpenView network management system as a complementary offering to its own Transview Control Center. Transview Control Center is based on NetLabs Inc’s first generation Netlabs/Manager network management software and provides the product with an SNMP-based structure, to which Siemens Nixdorf has also added support for Open Systems Interconnection CMIP agents and its own proprietary NMPC protocols. This framework, otherwise known as Transview-SNP, provides basic services, but tools for network, system and application management are layered on top and given a Motif or Windows front-end. The product resides on a Sinix server and monitors and administers the system via agents on each node.
Public telecommunications arm opts for OpenView too
Meantime Hewlett-Packard Co has already won an understanding from Siemens AG’s public communications networks group to use HP OpenView Distributed Management 4.0 technology in its OMNS Optimised Network Management System for running telephone networks. The Optimised Network Management System is designed to manage public telecommunications networks and was developed by Siemens and GEC Plessey Telecommunications Ltd, in which Siemens owns a 40% stake. It covers the use of wireless, wireline and transmission network products and is claimed to provide scaled management for everything from node elements themselves to service and business operations. Existing Optimised Network Management System customers will be migrated up to HP OpenView.
The company’s Sietec unit enhances its videoconferencing offering, developed for the Bundespost
Sietec Systemtechnik, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG, has started shipping EMV, a videoconferencing product it developed for Deutsche Telekom Berkom. EMV is based on Sietec’s jointX workgroup computing software, which supports document sharing and editing as well as audio, but the new offering also has videoconferencing capabilities built in. It runs on Sun Microsystems Inc Sparcstations, Silicon Graphics Inc Iris Indigos and Siemens Nixdorf’s RWs running under SunOS 4.1X or Irix 4.0x. These machines can be hooked up to X terminals with a Motif front-end via TCP/IP local area networks or broadband and ISDN wide area networks. Videoconferencing capabilities are also available for jointX as an add-on if customers want it, but Sietec says the system runs too slowly over today’s digital networks to justify the extra expense – and there aren’t enough firms with access to broadband networks or ISDN to create a mass market for it. As a result, at CeBit the company intends to announce new technology it has developed with a major chip vendor that will enable jointX to perform more satisfactorily over digital networks. This is a special chip on a board that users simply slot into their workstations to boost performance. Both products are available now in Germany, and will start shipping elsewhere when suitable distributors are found. JointX costs the equivalent of about $4,000, but no pricing was available for EMV.
