Oracle buys SOA vendor AmberPoint

Oracle has agreed to acquire AmberPoint, a provider of service-oriented architecture management software, saying the buy will add important features to Oracle's SOA middleware line-up.

AmberPoint's service-oriented architecture (SOA) management software is aimed specifically at improving the performance of transactions that require multiple applications to work together, such as account provisioning and insurance-claims processing.

It adds capabilities that Oracle's Fusion Middleware SOA portfolio does not currently include, such as the ability to automatically discover components and interactions, end-to-end performance and availability tracking, and real-time tracking of individual business transactions.

Oracle said it plans to increase research and development investment in AmberPoint's products following the acquisition.

"We expect the addition of AmberPoint's products to Oracle Fusion Middleware SOA Suite will provide stronger end-to-end governance that allows customers to manage the entire lifecycle of SOA-based solutions, providing visibility and management across heterogeneous environments," said Oracle vice president for product development, Thomas Kurian, in a statement.

Oracle competes with the likes of IBM, SAP and HP in the SOA market, and has itself absorbed major SOA players such as BEA Systems.

Financial details of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the first half of this year, were not disclosed.