BEA bets on componentised middleware

BEA is touting SOA in its new role in development

BEA is turning its middleware into modular applications in a move designed to mimic how enterprises are adopting componentised applications as part of service oriented architectures (SOAs). 

SOA is an architecture to build and maintain applications in an enterprise. Rather than designing applications from the ground up, SOA allows developers to reuse code between departments and combine resources from all over the company.

BEA, however, is now applying the same ideas to the middleware applications that are used to run SOAs, chief technology officer Rob Levy explained in an interview.

"It's about time we stopped looking at SOA as just an architecture and started thinking about the true implications of SOA in its new role in development," he told vnunet.com. 

The componentised middleware is part of BEA's vision of a 'micro services architecture' (MSA) which the vendor is scheduled to unveil on Tuesday at BEA World in San Francisco.

MSA defines a common platform and presentation layer on top of which components are stacked, each performing a specific business function.

BEA's MSA will span all its current product suites including the BEA Weblogic application server and BEA Aqualogic suite of SOA products.

Each component will deliver a specific function such as a portal framework, security framework or business process management execution engine.

Middleware applications will be able to share components, making for easier installation, maintenance and configuration.

Middleware applications today are essentially a combination of several functions packaged inside a single application. BEA's MSA architecture isolates each of these functions in a separate component.

Over time Levy expects that enterprises will create custom middleware applications by mixing and matching components based on their business needs. Software vendors will be able to create middleware tailored towards vertical markets.

And ultimately users will even be able to swap out components from one vendor with software from a different supplier, provided that the software industry agrees on the necessary standards.

BEA plans to have componentised versions of its applications ready within the next 12 to 18 months. Levy was unable to comment on the licensing structure.