November 13, 2006 08:07 ET

New Xcalia® Software Enables Cost Containment and Deployment Control for Applications in SOA Environments

Xcalia Intermediation Core Version 5.0 Allows Enterprises to Help Build Composite Applications and Optimize Them According to Cost and Speed; Enterprises Now Better Able to Respond to Changing Business Needs

PALO ALTO, CA and PARIS -- (MARKET WIRE) -- November 13, 2006 -- Xcalia, a leading provider of dynamic integration software, today announced the availability of the Xcalia Intermediation Core (XIC) version 5.0. This new product enables enterprises to build composite applications with the unprecedented ability to decide at runtime the way applications access data and service resources. XIC 5.0 also greatly reduces their overall SOA infrastructure costs, and meanwhile, improves control over how the business applications are deployed and maintained.

"In our work with Global 2000 firms, we realized that CIOs are concerned that, because their hardware and software investments are so inflexible, they will have to spend millions on additional IT infrastructure to deploy SOAs," said Pierre Violo, CEO of Xcalia. "Addressing these flexibility and cost issues were our highest priorities in XIC 5.0. Consequently, we are first to market with a solution to help enterprises transition and manage their systems in a way that allows them to optimize the information resources and applications they already have, and meanwhile migrate data and applications at their own pace. Not only are these benefits possible with XIC 5.0, but our customers are now able to respond faster to business demands and market changes with faster application development and the ability to choose the best data resource."

The 'secret sauce' in XIC 5.0 is the ability for applications to dynamically access the appropriate data or service resources at runtime -- even in heterogeneous environments -- based on the pre-determined cost analysis of resource deployment options. The foundation for this new software infrastructure approach is "intermediation," a dynamic alternative to static integration. With this approach, Xcalia utilizes a patented infrastructure layer that sits between applications and data, where all the business logic resides, so that no code changes are required in the base applications. As a result, Xcalia's intermediation approach leapfrogs the performance and scalability of the XML integration approaches used today.

Because Xcalia enables its customers to keep their applications totally independent of the underlying data environment, they are able to develop and deploy applications and services faster than ever before, and also know that future expenses for SOA projects will be lower.

Other Key Features of XIC 5.0

In addition to the optimization capabilities, XIC 5.0 includes five major new features:

--  SDO 2.0 - XIC 5.0 delivers a robust and mature SDO 2.0 implementation,
    focused on performance and QoS.  Xcalia is one of the initial founders and
    a strong proponent of the SDO standard, which is very important for SOAs.
    SDO 2.0 is critical when accessing heterogeneous data sources in a
    disconnected model and when business models are dynamic and data-oriented
    (which is the basic case in SOA). SDO 2.0 support in XIC 5.0 broadens
    interoperability of data and service access among various languages,
    platforms and architectures.
    
--  Java-.NET Interoperability - Enterprises that utilize .NET have access
    to heterogeneous assets (Java, .NET, mainframes) to interoperate seamlessly
    in an SOA environment.
    
--  Cost-Based Strategies - Allows enterprises to calculate a company's
    cost of  various execution plans to access data, and make a sound business
    case for each option. With this feature, developers can dynamically tune,
    load balance, or redirect system access based on current needs.
    
--  Web Services Interface - Xcalia has embedded a Web service interface
    into XIC 5.0, which enables developers to access all database and service-
    oriented resources within the enterprise via SOAP. Now, XIC 5.0 can be used
    in any BPEL application or workflow because Xcalia intermediation is now
    available as a simple web service.
    
--  Improved Method Behavior Language - XIC 4.0 came with a metadata
    language (Service Method Behavior Language, or SMBL) unique in the industry
    to describe the behavior of service methods. That information is used at
    runtime to dynamically combine services in order to support business
    transactions. In XIC 5.0, to speed the development process, this language
    has been made even easier and now reads like narrative English. It
    therefore decreases the developer learning curve and increases
    productivity.
    

XIC 5.0 is available now. The .NET Interoperability feature will be available at the end of December. For more information visit www.xcalia.com or call one of our regional sales offices.

About Xcalia

Xcalia's dynamic integration software makes it easier for enterprises to build composite applications in SOAs while reusing valuable information resources, optimizing IT investments and reducing operating costs. Through Intermediation, a layer between the business model and the data/services resources, applications can be created or updated quickly to meet changing business demands. Xcalia is ideal for high-performance transactional applications that also need to reuse legacy and mainframe resources with maximum interoperability in any environment. Xcalia, headquartered in Paris, France, has offices in the US and Germany, and counts 20 large enterprises among its customers. The company is privately held. For more on Xcalia, visit www.xcalia.com.