News

AmberPoint adds to Web services management line

• By Rich Seeley
• October 1, 2003

Preparing for the future when XML Web services are used in transactions outside the enterprise, AmberPoint Inc. this week unveiled a management toolset officials said is designed to help prevent glitches in processing.

The Oakland, Calif.-based start-up is adding AmberPoint Exception Manager to its line of management tools for Web services, which so far includes performance monitoring, usage tracking and information flow offerings. The latest tool is important because once transactions via Web services move outside the enterprise, IT departments will not have direct control over the processing steps by trading partners, said Ed Horst, vice president of marketing at AmberPoint.

In the near future, he told XML Report, "There are going to be external Web services running between companies, and these are the Web services where you don't have direct control. And that is going to be the norm for people over time."

Using non-invasive agent technology, the Exception Manager tool will help detect, diagnose and resolve problems ranging for data-entry errors to orders lost in processing, according to Horst.

"We take the approach that you want to do the management in a non-invasive fashion," he said. "You don't want to change anything about the inner workings of the Web service." AmberPoint Exception Manager does not require a trading partner to include special program calls in their Web service creations for the tool to perform its monitoring and management functions, Horst said.

Further information on the tool, which is designed for the .NET and J2EE environments, is available at www.amberpoint.com.