Applications /

CA takes on Web services

Company announces plans to deliver, manage and secure Web services.

By Denise Dubie
Network World Fusion, 04/22/02

ORLANDO - Computer Associates Monday detailed plans to adapt its technology to help users deploy emerging Web services without sacrificing ease of use, convenience and security.

At the company's annual user show CA CTO Yogesh Gupta spoke to an early morning crowd in Orlando about the company's plans to integrate software and development tools from across its six brands to support Web services from Microsoft's .Net portfolio and Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE). The latest release of CA's portal software, CleverPath 4.0, would be the delivery and presentation part of the Web service offerings from CA.

"CleverPath doesn't care from which devices Web services are accessed," Gupta said. "It can work with wireless and wired devices, J2EE and .Net environments. Our goal is to keep the technology in the background, while helping our customers do their day-to-day jobs easier."

Gupta said CleverPath understands UDDI repositories, as well as protocols such as SOAP, WML and HTML. So, regardless of the user's access method, Gupta said, CleverPath can recognize the device being used and deliver information in the proper format to end users.

The CleverPath software recognizes JavaServer Pages servlets and .Net components written to support and publish Web services.

Other tools from CA will help in fully rolling out Web services, Gupta claimed. In terms of management, the company's Unicenter network and systems management software will manage the transactions and components across a Web service. Products from CA's eTrust security software portfolio will ensure only authorized users gain access to information. And AllFusion application lifecycle management products will help those Java and .Net developers maintain change and version control while the technology advances.

The company also plans to manage individual components and transactions to report on the service levels delivered through Web services. Gupta said the company is currently working with the standards community to best determine how to track the process and elements involved in Web services and ensure internal and external service-level agreements are met.

"There are many challenges in integration," including management, security and scalability, Gupta said. "But as pervasive computing becomes more powerful and easier to use, and the devices get cheaper, CA's purpose is to help solve your real problems and make communications possible."

During his keynote, Gupta also talked briefly of how the company has expanded its reach into wireless management with Unicenter, while mFormation also at the CA World user show and now a CA Smart partner announced it could now deliver its network and systems management software through the Unicenter management console. mFormation late last year announced its mFormation Enterprise Manager software.

The software, now in version 1.4, brings network and systems management capabilities out to wireless devices without requiring users to sync up with the network through a device cradle - providing true wireless management, the company says. Now Unicenter users can purchase the mFormation software to manage wireless devices on their networks, and net managers can view the collected data on wireless devices via the Unicenter console alongside the data collected about wired network elements.

mFormation Enterprise Manager costs $20,000 per server and between $55 and $75 per device, depending on volume.