GT Software released Ivory Service Architect– an integrated toolset that enables organizations to rapidly implement an SOA using their existing mainframe hardware, applications, data and skills.

Ivory Service Architect includes two key components - Ivory Studio and Ivory Server - that work in tandem to enable mainframe developers to create services that actively participate in an SOA. Mainframe developers can now graphically orchestrate mainframe transactions, applications, data, and web services into multi-step, multi-operation business services, with no formal training or consulting required.

"Often under-appreciated, mainframe development is a valuable component in any enterprise SOA," said Rob Morris, senior vice president of marketing and strategy at GT Software. "Ivory makes it easy to bring mainframe business services into an SOA environment, ensuring that all of an organization's hardware, software and developers become active participants in an SOA project."

"Mainframe application portfolios represent a significant investment and companies need to restructure and extend these applications through service-oriented architectures to leverage their investments," said Dale Vecchio, Research vice president at Gartner.   "When looking to extend this investment into SOA, one thing is for sure - you simply cannot code your way into the future.  Look for tools that enable mainframe developers to quickly and easily become service developers in an automated, code-free environment."

Ivory - Bringing a Mainframe IDE and Server Tools to SOA

Ivory Server consists of a high-performance SOAP processor, a business service flow processor, and a central repository for WSDL discovery. Ivory Server exploits both CICS and IMS processing routines, as well as native data access capabilities, thereby eliminating the need for middle-tier servers and providing the flexibility to fully incorporate mainframe processing power within the SOA.

Ivory Server processes information published via Ivory Studio, accessing 3270, CICS, IMS, and mainframe 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.

Full Integration with the SOA Ecosystem

Because implementing SOA in an enterprise requires tight integration between multiple IT platforms and services, Ivory supports key technologies that make any service instantly recognizable and usable within an SOA. This ensures that mainframe-based services perform as an active and integral part of the overall service architecture.

In order to fully exploit this SOA ecosystem, GT Software has engineered Ivory to offer out-of-the-box integration with the following key participants:

• AmberPoint, Inc., a provider of SOA runtime governance software, provides out–of-the-box integration, ensuring management and service policies are automatically enforced without manual intervention.

• Fuego, a developer of agile business process management (BPM) solutions, so mainframe-based business services can be consumed by BPEL or BPM processes.

• Systinet, whose Systinet Registry provides the foundation for SOA governance and lifecycle management, enables new services to be automatically entered into the registry to comply with an enterprise's policies, again with no manual intervention required.

• MomentumSI, a systems integrator and professional services organization, has been certified as an Ivory Solutions Provider to help enterprises that want to include the mainframe as an active participant in their SOA initiatives.