OGIS INTERNATIONAL INTRDUCES INTEGRATION PLATFORM AND DIRECTORY DEDICATED TO WEB SERVICES
XGrotto Platform and Directory Helps Users Find New Web Services While Assisting Developers to Integrate SOAP, WSDL and XML-based Web Services Without Need for Programming
BOSTON, MA, (SD East Conference & Expo) - November 19, 2002 - OGIS International, Inc. a leading provider of Java, UML, and Web Services solutions, today announced the availability of its XGrotto Web Services Integration Platform and Directory. Using the XGrotto Integration Platform, users can quickly and easily find and invoke dynamic online Web Services. The XGrotto platform enables companies to define their own business processes and integrate different Web Services, without any programming required, so that customers and other end-users can seamlessly find and conduct multiple, related transactions online. A key component of the OGIS offering is its XGrotto directory, www.xgrotto.com, a standards-based repository of Web Services that provides automatic client generation and workflow-driven support of business processes.
OGIS will showcase its new XGrotto Web Services platform and directory at the SD East Conference & Expo, taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston on November 19, 2002. Web service providers interested in being listed in XGrottofs directory can visit the company in the Web Services Pavilion at the SD Conference & Expo or go to http://www.ogis-international.com.
With the advent of the Internet, anyone with access to a Web browser can pull up Web-based content. While such information is typically presented in the form of static Web pages, dynamic Web Services that enable users to conduct specific tasks and transactions have become increasingly common over the last few years. However, unlike a regular Web page, these Web Services do not always appear in a readable interface such as HTML. Both developers and businesses have a compelling need to search online for such Web-based services and integrate them into business models in order to improve internal workflow, build new applications and better meet customer needs.
Current UDDI Directory Overwhelming With Bevy of Standards
While static Web pages are easy to locate using traditional search engines, there is no simple way for businesses to successfully locate Web Services online. Currently, searches for available Web Services are typically done using UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration), a directory that locates them with simple interfaces. However, this option is limited in that users can search for services primarily by name only, making it difficult to pull up a truly comprehensive list of services. In addition, UDDI searches cannot screen out services based on quality and other criteria.
Even when companies and users can locate the Web Services they want, they often need specialized programming skills to integrate these various Web Services into tailored, turnkey applications that meet their interests and needs. Because Web Services are often built using a range of different protocols and programming languages, these services are often unable to work together. And while open standard messaging protocols such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), and interface definition languages such as WSDL (Web Services Description Language) can be used to integrate different services, integration may still be complicated, time-consuming and costly.
Planning a business trip provides a useful example of how the XGrotto platform can enable users to seamlessly connect to multiple Web services according to pre-defined workflows. In this example, a traveler could provide their desired itinerary to an online travel agency whose Web Service would then connect online with airlines, rental car companies and hotels. Using the criteria of its choice (price, brand, availability, etc.), the travel agency could automatically select the most appropriate vendors and through those respective Web services, coordinate flight, rental car and hotel reservations. With XGrottofs platform, travelers could more conveniently make travel plans, travel agencies could better serve their customers and companies offering Web services could generate additional business.
XGrotto Web Services Integration Platform 1.0
With the XGrotto Web Services Integration Platform 1.0, developers and non-technologists alike can quickly, easily and economically find, integrate and implement Web Services without any programming required. Using XGrotto, developers can integrate various Web-based services so that end-users can conduct multiple transactions by initiating just one event. Because XGrottofs integrated search engine understands different layers of Web Services standards such as XML, SOAP and WSDL, it enables users to quickly search for Web Services regardless of the APIs or specific application development environment of these services. Similar to a search engine for a Web page, XGrotto provides rich, functional interfaces that enable companies to search for Web Services using keywords, service quality ratings and other criteria. Web Services that are integrated using the XGrotto platform can be run from the desktop with a standard Web browser.
Free of charge, XGrotto is initially intended for use by the developer community and will be rolled out to other audiences over time.
The XGrotto Web Services Integration Platform 1.0 offers the following features:
- Integrated Web Services Directory
100% Web-based platform easily finds, integrates and invokes Web Services. - Standard-based service specific registry
XGrotto supports standard technologies including WSDL, SOAP, UDDI and XML. - Automatic client generation
With the simple addition of the WSDL for any particular Web Service, XGrotto analyzes and invokes an automatic client generation, enabling one to simply enter input data (such as an itinerary for a trip) to the Web Service and view its result through a browser. No further programming, software downloads or add-ons are necessary. - Workflow-based service integration
Using a standard browser, the XGrotto platform automatically integrates multiple services according to pre-defined workflows. - Broad platform support
With XGrotto, Web Services be implemented and rendered on various platforms including IBM WebSphere, Microsoft .NET, Sun ONE as well as open source tools like Apache Axis. The data structure of XGrotto can also be handled as a UDDI registry.
XGrotto Web Services Directory
The XGrotto directory comes with a keyword search to help users easily find specific Web Services. It also provides a service semantics framework for Web Services, allowing Web Service providers to drop in additional content and descriptions while informing users of what each Web Service can actually accomplish. By giving vendors a way to publicize their services, XGrottofs directory - which focuses on Web Services built using SOAP and WSDL protocols - also encourages vendors to provide new Web Services and helps developers decide which ones theyfd like to integrate into their own applications.
Stated Dr. Suzuki, Research Scholar and noted expert in object-oriented technology at the University of California, Irvine, gThe XGrotto platform and directory enables users to easily find and test out existing Web Services, while keeping developers abreast of newly available ones. OGIS is taking a visionary and leadership role in providing their platform and directory to the community free-of-charge in order to encourage and accelerate the pace of Web Services adoption and proliferation.h
Added Katsuya Oba, General Manager of OGIS International, gWe believe that Web Services will be the cornerstone for the next wave of Internet-based business innovation. OGIS foresees the proliferation of Web Services, where tens of thousands of services dynamically appear, disappear, connect with each other, seamlessly transact, and then separate from one after another. We anticipate that XGrotto can play an important role in bridging together disparate Web Services to support successful, seamless business transactions.h
About OGIS International, Inc.
OGIS International is a leading provider of Java, UML, and Web Services solutions. In October 2000, it was established as a US-based 100% subsidiary of OGIS-RI (Osaka Gas Information System Research Institute Co., Ltd.) in Japan. OGIS-RI has provided professional services based on the object-oriented technology expertise for various industries for more than one decade. Based on such experiences, OGIS International keeps providing solutions worldwide with cutting edge technologies.
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