SAP Thursday took the wraps off its new integration and application server middleware, called NetWeaver, that is to become the platform on which all SAP business software will run.

Based on Web services and aimed at easing users' integration headaches, NetWeaver can link disparate applications and data sources, allowing companies to make use of their existing IT investments and personnel skills while exploiting the power of Web services, SAP says.

It's designed with heterogeneous IT systems in mind. NetWeaver is interoperable with Microsoft .Net and IBM WebSphere platforms, SAP says. Users can provision Web services that have been developed in Java or SAP's own development language, ABAP, for example.

Neutrality was important to customers, said Shai Agassi, a board member at SAP, at the NetWeaver launch. "Our customers asked us not to get into a battle on something that does not radically change the way they conduct business," he said.

Customers don't care about one programming language over another, they care about preserving their existing application assets and the skills of their people, Agassi said. "What they don't want to do is retool again and again and again, every time someone comes up with a new idea about how to build an application," he said.

Going forward, NetWeaver becomes the backbone for all SAP applications, the software maker says. It's the next generation of the company's mySAP Technology platform, which was introduced in 2001.

Two key components of the NetWeaver platform that mySAP Technology didn't have are a composite application framework which provides tools and methodologies for creating applications that work like Web services; and master data management capabilities that tackle the chore of integrating data from disparate systems and storing it centrally.

In addition, NetWeaver will feature existing SAP technologies, including its portal software; collaboration features; support for mobile access to business systems; business intelligence and knowledge management tools for aggregating and analyzing data; an integration broker based on XML messaging; and business process management tools.

All of these elements run on the SAP Web Application Server and are managed using a central console, SAP's Computing Center Management System.