Sun, Bowstreet Join Forces On Web Services

In a move that will help advance its position in the delivery of Web services, Sun Microsystems Inc. today announced an agreement with Bowstreet, the Web services platform provider, to integrate Bowstreet’s Web services development and assembly platform, the Bowstreet Business Web Factory with Sun ONE, Sun’s vision architecture product to enable the development and delivery of services on demand.

Sun says that it is joining forces with Bowstreet to offer enterprises dynamic Web services assembly, which describes the ability to assemble and customize the appropriate Web services at run-time.

In addition, the agreement furthers the alliance Sun and Bowstreet announced in February 2001, to encompass support of the Sun ONE product portfolio.

As part of the agreement, Bowstreet will offer a fully integrated version of the Business Web Factory for the iPlanet Application Server, and provide integrated support for the iPlanet Portal Server by the end of the first quarter of 2002.

Sun says the integration of the Business Web Factory to the Sun ONE portfolio provides a new tool for Java and iPlanet developers looking to create and deploy applications that leverage the performance capabilities of the iPlanet Application Server.

For the iPlanet Portal Server, the Business Web Factory allows enterprises to assemble, manage and deploy services on demand to both clients and devices, which Sun expects will enable Sun ONE customers to speed time to market and reduce maintenance costs over the lifespan of Web applications.

“Because of the central role that application servers play in Web services delivery, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the ability to dynamically assemble Web services is a key component for any J2EE application server environment,” says Daryl Plummer, vice president and research group director, Gartner Inc.

“Bowstreet shares our vision for a services on demand architecture, and provides the dynamic Web services assembly our customers will need as they develop and implement Web services,” says Shahram Moradpour, Senior Director, Sun Developer Network at Sun Microsystems Inc.

“The combination of Bowstreet and iPlanet technologies gives our customers the ability to assemble and customize Web services for the enterprise,” he adds.

Matt Thompson, Director of Technology Evangelism for Sun Microsystems Inc., says the announcement is also a victory for developers: “The Bowstreet Business Web Factory compounds the value of any tool by combining software components from other sources and delivering them as needed to virtually any individual or device.”

“iPlanet and Bowstreet are a natural fit,” says Bowstreet Vice President of Marketing, Dave Rosenlund. “The combination of Bowstreet, iPlanet and the Sun ONE vision lowers the cost of doing business on the Internet.”