Domino & WebSphere: It's getting better all the time
By Wendy Maxfield
This is the first of a three-part series on WebSphere, the
Web application server at the core of IBM's e-business
strategy. Today we'll take a look at what WebSphere is and
how IBM and Lotus are working to bring more synergy to
Domino and WebSphere.
Since 1998 when IBM initially launched its WebSphere
software platform, there has been a tremendous amount of
confusion about the role of Domino in a WebSphere world. But
it looks as if the smoke may finally be clearing.
E-business had been offered by IBM for quite some time now,
and it's clear that as IBM's e-business push is on now,
Domino fits better into the equation. IBM announced a new
line of servers designed for e-business: the e-server in
October. In September, a $9,999 WebSphere-Domino price
bundle was launched which, despite being a price break and
not an applications integration breakthrough, nonetheless
allowed for greater integration between the two application
servers. Lotus also released the 5.05 release of Domino,
which includes the coveted Single Sign On (SSO) option
between the Domino and WebSphere servers, as well as,
enhanced Java support.
These 5.05 features keep promises made last January at
Lotusphere of better integration between the two. Art
Fontaine, Lotus marketing manager for WebSphere-Domino
integration, says more integration is on the horizon. "We've
already delivered many integration points that were promised
by year's end, and we have an ongoing process of integration
that will deliver complete and total integration," he says.
WebSphere at a Glance
IBM's Web and e-business strategy hinges on WebSphere, a set
of Java tools that allow for the creation and management of
Web sites particularly for businesses trying to keep pace
with a heavy volume of transactions.
The foundation of the WebSphere platform is the WebSphere
Application Server (WAS), which provides the core software,
and IBM's MQ Series, which is middleware that permits
different systems within a company to all work together.
There are three different server versions targeted at large
and mid-sized companies. The Standard Edition is included
with Domino R5, the Advanced Edition also includes an
Enterprise JavaBeans programming environment, and the
Enterprise Edition adds the Component Broker C++ ORB for
writing and deploying C++ based server objects.
IBM adds to this with WebSphere Studio, a set of PC-based
Web application-development tools for creating and managing
a Web site. WebSphere Studio includes the Apache Web server,
which permits on-the-spot testing.
WebSphere software supports open, industry standards such as
Java and XML, so that companies can customize and integrate
with third-party applications. WebSphere runs on all major
hardware platforms and operating systems. Lotus' Fontaine
sums up WebSphere by noting that "WebSphere equals Java.
It's written in Java, for Java."
Adding Domino to the Mix
Domino is billed as an "application accelerator" in the
WebSphere model. Its strengths in the collaborative services
arena -- messaging, workflow and content management - are
seen as a complement to WebSphere's scalability, robust
transaction processing and Java programming model. "Domino
will scale well," Fontaine says, "but it doesn't do
transactions."
Fontaine emphasizes that the early confusion between Domino
and WebSphere was "our failure to state clearly that the two
are applications servers of a different nature and are best
suited to different places. Using WebSphere and Domino
together allows you to create greater applications than
either one could do its own."
He also acknowledges that greater synergy between the two
products is in the works and, although no dates are
mentioned, plans are in the works to add LotusScript to
WebSphere so that it eventually becomes part of the
WebSphere infrastructure layer.
The confusion between the two products is a bit ironic,
notes Fontaine, since WebSphere and Domino were cut from the
same cloth. IBM initially created a Web server -- just an
HTTP stack -- and gave it to Lotus to transition Notes into
a Web server, what we know as Domino. Lotus also marketed
this as a stand-alone product, the Domino Go Webserver. IBM
opted to augment this stack with Java servlets, and there
you have it: WebSphere was born.
In our second installment we'll take look at IBM and Lotus
resources on the Web for developing an e-commerce strategy
and outline some case studies that use Domino and WebSphere.
Wendy Maxfield is a contributing editor based in Littleton,
Mass.
