SeeBeyond slims down integration software

Integration-software maker SeeBeyond Technology introduced on Monday a new product line designed to address simpler application-integration tasks than those handled by the company's flagship line.

The company is using the term "enterprise service bus" (ESB) in the name of its latest product. The phrase is used to describe a software package that uses Java messaging and XML-based standards to transport data between business applications.

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The new SeeBeyond product, called eInsight Enterprise Service Bus, offers a subset of the capabilities available in the company's Integrated Composite Applications Networks (ICAN) Suite 5.0. SeeBeyond will try to sell the ESB into departments of large companies that don't need or don't have the budget for a large-scale integration-software setup, company executives said.

SeeBeyond said it is charging $10,000 per processor for its software. In an effort to undercut rivals, SeeBeyond is bundling add-ons with the eInsight ESB package, including its business process integration software.

Interest in relatively inexpensive, standards-based integration software has picked up over the past few years as corporations have sought alternatives to traditional enterprise application integration (EAI) software, which can cost more than a million dollars.

IBM earlier this year said it would introduce its own ESB product called Services Integration Bus, which is set for delivery by the middle of 2004. SeeBeyond Chief Technology Officer Ross Altman said that products from Sonic Software, Cape Clear Software and PolarLake are also competitors of SeeBeyond's eInsight Enterprise Service Bus.

Other traditional EAI software companies are investing in newer technologies to offer lower-cost integration options. WebMethods in October purchased a number of companies, including a Web services start-up The Mind Electric, to boost the company's offerings around standards-based integration.