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RAPID. EASY. PROVEN.
Enter Promo Code Web.
Integration to CICS, IMS, and Batch applications through Web services has proven to be a cost effective way of extending the power of the mainframe to web applications. The rich functionality of existing mainframe applications can now be exploited without costly rewriting or rehosting of those applications. Media pundits and industry analysts are now talking about the mainframe platform being an active participant, even the centerpiece, in a corporate SOA strategy. GT Software is leading the way in shaping this new role for the mainframe in enterprise computing. The mainframe was previously locked away in the ivory towers of the enterprise data center but it is now at the forefront of the integration and services revolution. Simply put, the mainframe is the driving force for integration and service-oriented architecture (SOA) projects around the globe.
Leading the mainframe integration transformation into a SOA powerhouse is Ivory Service Architect.
The pace of business – technology change, mergers and acquisitions, and competitive market forces, drive the challenges faced by large mainframe centric enterprises. These issues often result in a fractured integration architecture throughout the enterprise, with multiple tactical products from dozens of vendors being used to attempt mainframe integration. This problem is only compounded with the advent of mainframe SOA. To achieve business agility and operational efficiencies, a better alternative must be utilized.
GT Software’s Ivory Service Architect combines a high-performance mainframe SOA integration architecture coupled with world-class development tooling to address the myriad of requirements for mainframe web service integration faced by large enterprises. The Ivory Suite offers a complete product family for integrating the mainframe – application logic, business logic, and mainframe data. The Ivory product family is standards based, with support for numerous mainframe and Web service standards.
Ivory Service Architect is highly regarded by industry analysts such as Gartner, as well as infrastructure software market analysts and consultants like Lustratus Research.
With Ivory Service Architect, consisting of Ivory Studio and Ivory Server, developers and non-developers can quickly and easily assemble multi-step, multi-operation composite business services from existing mainframe assets, and publish them as Web services. The deployed business services services then execute on a high-performance runtime engine.
Ivory Studio is an intuitive development tool that enables mainframe developers to leverage any mainframe transaction, application or data, as well as Web services, to create a single- or multi-function composite service. Simple to learn and operate, Ivory Studio features a graphical environment that enables the easy orchestration of building-block functions into business services. This drag-and-drop environment enables developers to define Web service inputs and outputs, and then graphically model the multi-step process to implement the service. With its powerful visualization and orchestration features, Ivory Studio makes it possible to build business services with the right level of granularity, removing technical limitations from consideration in packaging services for maximum reuse.
Ivory Studio offers robust support for team-based development. With support for source control, true collaborative development of enterprise-class Web services can take place.
Integrated tools make Ivory even more productive. For example, Ivory includes an integrated FTP client for importing copybooks and BMS macros from mainframe file systems. Additionally, once the new service is complete, Ivory provides a fully integrated test and trace harness to exercise and inspect the newly created service. Additionally, Ivory Studio is integrated with Ivory BMS/TS, guaranteeing that the Ivory based business service won't break when changes to the BMS map occur.
How easy is it to use? With no special skills and no understanding of SOAP, XML, WSDL, or HTTP protocols, developers can learn how to use Ivory with no formal training.
Ivory Server consists of a high-performance SOAP processor, a business service flow processor, and a central repository for WSDL discovery. Ivory Server exploits CICS, IMS, and native data access capabilities, eliminating the need for middle-tier servers, and providing the flexibility to fully leverage mainframe processing power as appropriate within the SOA.
Ivory Server processes information published via Ivory Studio, accessing COMMAREA, 3270 screens, CICS, IMS, CA-IDMS, CA-IDEAL, Natural and data directly in each native environment. The server receives SOAP requests, invokes the business service flow previously defined in Ivory Studio to satisfy the request, and formats the SOAP response.
Ivory Service Architect uniquely enables rapid SOA development for the mainframe using existing skills sets.
Ivory Service Architect is based on the Ivory Server, a robust, multi-threaded runtime that powers GT Software’s mainframe integration and SOA offerings. Ivory Service Architect can be deployed on any of the following platforms: Native z/OS, CICS region, z/Linux, Unix, Linux, and Windows.
In a services environment, it is not enough to simply “service enable” a transaction. As mainframes take center stage in one’s SOA, it is critical that a business unit of work is exposed at the proper level of granularity from the mainframe, possibly spanning multiple subsystems.
Learn more about how Ivory Service Architect’s Ivory Studio provides automated service orchestration to enable mainframe developers to quickly and easily assemble multi-step, multi-operation composite business services from existing mainframe assets, the Ivory Server component provides a high-performance runtime engine for executing the deployed business services.
Ivory Service Architect supports both Bottom-Up and Top-Down SOA service design is critical to a successful SOA solution. Most mainframe integration and SOA solutions only support a bottom-up design methodology and as a result, organizations are forced into using a methodology that achieves minimal results at best.
Ivory Service Architect is the only product on the market that truly delivers Bottoms-Up and Top-Down SOA Web Service design. Learn more about this critical capability here.
The standard approach for most mainframe Web services integration products is to offer the publishing of services from existing mainframe transactions or business logic; but that is an incomplete SOA implementation. An SOA solution must provide integrated functionality to call any services whether they are mainframe centric, distributed within the corporate network, or external to the organization. In addition, the need for the mainframe to call services may also be required. Ivory Service Architect supports a callable interface that easily allows mainframe applications to consume business services.
Learn more about Ivory Service Architect’s industry leading support for Bi-directional Web Services
Ivory Service Architect is at the forefront of the mainframe Web Services security. Ivory Service Architect offers comprehensive security for your Web services. Contact GT Software to learn more about Ivory Service Architect’s unparalleled support for Web services security.
Ivory Service Architect provides comprehensive support for SOAP and XML standards. By detaching the service interface definition from the orchestrated mainframe artifacts that will be leveraged to implement the service leads to the fastest returns on your SOA investments, in terms of cost savings, operational efficiencies, reduced overhead and strategic advantage.
Learn more about Ivory Service Architect's standards support here.
Ivory was designed to fully participate within the broader SOA ecosystem of an enterprise-class solution. By pre-integrating with key technologies like registry, management and governance, make an Ivory-generated service instantly recognizable and usable within the SOA infrastructure. This ensures that mainframe-based services perform as an active and integral part of the overall service architecture.
Ivory includes options that enable generated services to be automatically:
