IBM has announced enhanced versions of its WebSphere business integration software to address the needs of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Specifically, IBM announced new versions of its WebSphere MQ and WebSphere Business Integration (WBI) Server Express software.

SMB is one of the largest and fastest growing opportunities in the IT industry, IBM says, pointing to IDC projections that SMBs will spend $360 billion on IT in 2005.

The new version of WebSphere MQ helps reduce the costs of on-going support for manual coding and file transfer and point-to-point solutions to exchange data between business applications and systems, the company said in an official announcement. The new version of WBI Server Express includes new adapters that integrate with existing applications, improved business flexibility using wizard-driven business rules, and simplified Web-based remote deployment.

As a complementary offering to WebSphere MQ Express, the latest versions of WebSphere MQ and WBI Server Express provide SMBs and Business Partners with a wider array of tools and resources to support their specific business needs including:

• Sales and technical training, as well as FAQs, marketing resources, and technical support for the latest version of WebSphere MQ are available for no cost via the IBM Virtual Innovation Center, an online community for SMBs and Business Partners.
• Support for the new versions of WebSphere MQ and WBI Server Express are now available via PartnerWorld Industry Networks (PWIN), enabling IBM Business Partners to build vertical market capabilities.
• A new tutorial called Quick Tour for WebSphere MQ features easy instructions and animations that help SMBs and IBM Business Partners quickly understand how the software works and aids in rapid deployment.
• A new user productivity aid, called File Transfer Sample Application, for WebSphere MQ demonstrates how SMBs and IBM Business Partners can easily and safely move files between applications.
• WebSphere Business Integration Server Express offers improved business flexibility using wizard-driven business rules, acceleration of business processes, simplified Web-based remote deployment, configuration and administration, and tools to create adapters for home grown and business applications.

“SMBs and large businesses share some of the common technology requirements including the need to integrate data and processes within their company and with outside suppliers and customers -- integration is one of the key attributes for on demand businesses,” said Robert LeBlanc, General Manager, IBM Application and Integration Middleware. “The software we are unveiling today gives customers all the hallmark features of WebSphere business integration software, and at the same time we’ve made our software easier to install, run and manage.”

WebSphere MQ’s new features allow enterprises to connect point-to-point applications, establish enterprise-wide connectivity, or extend application connections into and across mainframe environments and streamline a variety of complex application integration challenges throughout the organization.

Version 6.0 of WebSphere MQ includes, for the first time, the foundation for creating an enterprise service bus (ESB) from a single, Eclipse-based workbench by providing not only point to point reliable delivery of information, but also ability to publish information to multiple queues at one time from a common tool. For example, when a product update is made, all applications and partners that leverage that product can be sent an update.

The new features in WebSphere MQ version 6.0 allow organizations to combine new and existing heterogeneous IT assets as part of composite applications, IBM says. This helps assure that as an organization continues to integrate new Web services into its infrastructure, it will have the flexibility to extend its IT infrastructure and easily accommodate future integration of new services, as well as continuing to integrate existing assets, the company reports.

IBM’s WebSphere MQ 6.0 is also integrated with the newly available application infrastructure capabilities found in the latest release of IBM’s CICS Transaction Server and WebSphere Application Server version 6.0 and its newest release on the z/OS.

These additional new integration features allow organizations to configure and manage WebSphere MQ servers, manage larger numbers of message queues and much larger queue sizes, as well as configure and administer other integration and infrastructure software in their organization, from a single console.

IBM concurrently announced enhancements to WebSphere MQ Workflow. New features in this release include greater ease of installation and configuration based on a native Java Client API and added support for Web services consistent with IBM’s open standards strategy. The newest release of WebSphere MQ Workflow also provides the ability to manage more complex processes and improve the efficiency of the business processes linking people and information that when combined, are critical to an organization’s ability to meet its business objectives.