zapnote CYSIVE Briefing Date: May 29, 2002 Analyst: Ronald Schmelzer

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1 zapthink zapnote -`````````````````````````````````````` ZAPTHINK ZAPNOTE Doc. ID: ZTZN D Released: July 15, 2002 CYSIVE SIMPLIFYING THE INTERACTION WITH WEB SERVICES Briefing Date: May 29, 2002 Analyst: Ronald Schmelzer Abstract With each step in the evolution of computing, we have reduced the complexity of connecting back-end systems in a cohesive manner. However, there has not been a commensurate improvement in the quality of our access to these applications through devices such as the web, PDAs, cell phones voice, and handhelds. Cymbio Interaction Server, by Cysive, aims to solve this problem by delivering a multichannel interaction server that aims to present a universal interaction tier in which Web Services from any source can be consumed, and then appropriately delivered to the correct end destination, whether desktop, mobile device, voice server, or another back-end system. All Contents Copyright ZapThink, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. ZapThink disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. ZapThink shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are trademarked by their respective owners and ZapThink makes no claims to these names. ZapThink, LLC! 11 Willow Street, Suite 200! Waltham, MA 02453! (781) !

2 A Multi-Channel Approach to Consuming Web Services Within the past few years, we have seen an increasing number of applications being made available to through different computing technologies and approaches--first COM and CORBA, then EJB, and now Web Services and XML-based interfaces. With each step in the evolution of computing, we have reduced the complexity of connecting back-end systems in a cohesive manner. However, there has not been a commensurate improvement in the quality of our access to these applications. Web Services have applied a unified layer through which we can access functionality that may have originally been coded in a variety of programming languages, middleware messaging formats, and proprietary EAI formats. Yet, users are still forced to access the functionality through proprietary interfaces: browser formats such as HTML and JavaScript, mobile applications formats such as WAP and imode, and a range of proprietary formats for desktop, voice, and push channels, among others. Clearly, enterprises need a solution to untangle the chaotic mix of presentation formats and present a way of delivering Web Services to multiple end points (or channels ). Cysive Cymbio Cymbio Interaction Server, by Cysive, aims to solve the problem of standardized Web Services delivery by producing a multi-channel interaction server that aims to present a universal interaction tier in which application functionality exposed through Web Services can be appropriately delivered to the correct end destination, whether desktop, mobile device, voice server, or another back-end system. In addition, Cymbio aims to assist in the complex task of orchestrating and aggregating multiple Web Services into a cohesive end user experience. Cymbio isolates interaction and presentation logic in a separate execution tier in order to manage the flow of synchronous as well as asynchronous application flow. The solution automatically handles the complex user interface and connectivity requirements of each channel and device, ranging from the always connected nature of back-end applications to the sometimes connected nature of cell phones and PDAs to the unknown connectivity state of trading partner systems. The application consists of three major components:! Integration optimized invocation of back-end systems geared to providing presentation formats for multiple channels.! Access the coordination of activities for multi-channel delivery of Web Services TAKE CREDIT FOR F READING ZAP APTHINK RESEARCH ESEARCH! Thank you for reading ZapThink research! ZapThink is an IT market intelligence firm that provides trusted advice and critical insight into XML, Web Services, and Service Orientation. We provide our target audience of IT vendors, service providers and end-users a clear roadmap for standards-based, loosely coupled distributed computing a vision of IT meeting the needs of the agile business. Earn rewards for reading ZapThink research! Visit and enter the code CYSINT. We ll reward you with ZapCredits that you can use to obtain free research, ZapGear, and more! For more information about ZapThink products and services, please call us at , or drop us an at info@zapthink.com. Copyright 2002, ZapThink, LLC 2

3 ! Process Management orchestration and aggregation of Web Services. The Interaction Manager component of the product handles user identity, context, and personalization, as well as localization. It also offers Cysive s patent-pending Follow-On Technology that allows the system to maintain long-lived interactions between applications and devices. The system uses this patented technology to extend Web Services sessions into a persistent entity that is available across the lifecycle of a transaction through multiple devices and systems. Cymbio incorporates a state machine at core of its product to manage asynchronous Web Services transactions. For security, Cymbio extended the Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) components that are part of Java 1.3 for policy-oriented security. They handle multi-hop, asynchronous transactions by attaching delivery policies to each message, instead of instituting a two-phase commit type of transaction. Cymbio supports cell phones, J2ME clients, pagers, web browsers, PDAs, voice browsers, and generic Web Services. For each of these delivery channels, the product delivers content that is compliant with the emerging W3C Composite Capabilities/Preferences Profiles (CC/PP) specification. CC/PP defines how to detect the unique characteristics of requesting channels and defines properties related to the hardware, software, operating system, browser, and network being used. Protocols and formats supported include chtml, HDML, HTML, ihtml, SOAP, WAP/WML, and VXML. Other features of the Interaction Manager include the ability to detect device capabilities and connection quality automatically, support disconnected devices via "store-and-forward, perform internal data transformation and validation, and notify when critical events occur using configurable profiles. The Composite Scenario Manager that handles business process management includes management of business process flow, business rules expression, and asynchronous processing. The ZapThink Take ZapThink sees a new class of application that is focused on Web Services consumption, rather than production. In this class of application exist:! Rich client-side Web Services consumers! Enterprise portals! Web Services orchestration and aggregation applications Rather than attempting to create new interfaces to legacy code, these applications seek to optimize the invocation of available Services. Thus, they are more focused on delivery aspects of Web Services rather than creation aspects. Cymbio represents a unique offering that bridges the capabilities of the Web Services orchestration and aggregation applications and combines it with the ability to deliver rich client-side user experiences. The Web Service consumer market is a compelling and one that is under-served by the existing major platform players (Microsoft, IBM, Sun, BEA). Cysive has a real opportunity to claim major market and mind share by working with these platform players as well as the emerging SOI market players to produce widely consumable Web Services. Another major differentiator for Cysive is that they have a considerable amount of cash in the bank and very strong management and engineering teams. These advantages will allow the company to make flexible and fluid changes as the market evolves. ZapThink sees a bright future for Cysive. Copyright 2002, ZapThink, LLC 3

4 Profile: Cysive (July 2002) Date Founded: 1993 Funding: Publicly held (NASDAQ: CYSV) CEO / President: Nelson Carbonell, Jr. Employees: 150 Products: Cysive Cymbio Interaction Server Address: Parkridge Boulevard Suite 400 Reston, VA URL: Main Phone: Contact: interactionserver@cysive.com Related Research! Service-Oriented Integration Report (ZTR-WS103)! Web Services Technologies and Trends Report (ZT-WEBSERV)! XML and Web Services Security Report (ZTR-WS104)! Avinon ZapNote (ZTZN-0108)! Epicentric ZapNote (ZTZN-0104) -- continued -- Copyright 2002, ZapThink, LLC 4

5 About ZapThink, Z LLC ZapThink is an IT market intelligence firm that provides trusted advice and critical insight into XML, Web Services, and Service Orientation. We provide our target audience of IT vendors, service providers and end-users a clear roadmap for standards-based, loosely coupled distributed computing a vision of IT meeting the needs of the agile business. ZapThink s role is to help companies understand these IT products and services in the context of SOAs and the vision of Service Orientation. ZapThink provides market intelligence to IT vendors who offer XML and Web Services-based products to help them understand their competitive landscape and how to communicate their value proposition to their customers within the context of Service Orientation, and lay out their product roadmaps for the coming wave of Service Orientation. ZapThink also provides implementation intelligence to IT users who are seeking guidance and clarity into how to assemble the available products and services into a coherent roadmap to Service Orientation. Finally, ZapThink provides demand intelligence to IT vendors and service providers who must understand the needs of IT users as they follow the roadmap to Service Orientation. ZapThink s senior analysts are widely regarded as the go to analysts for XML, Web Services, and SOAs by vendors, end-users, and the press. They are in great demand as speakers, and have presented at conferences and industry events around the world. They are among the most quoted industry analysts in the IT industry. ZapThink was founded in October 2000 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Its customers include Global 1000 firms, public sector organizations around the world, and many emerging businesses. ZapThink Analysts have years of experience in IT as well as research and analysis. Its analysts have previously been with such firms as IDC and ChannelWave, and have sat on the working group committees for standards bodies such as RosettaNet, UDDI, CPExchange, ebxml, EIDX, and CompTIA. Call, , or visit the ZapThink Web site to learn more about how ZapThink can help you to better understand how XML and Web Services impact your business or organization. ZAPTHINK CONTACT: ZapThink, LLC 11 Willow Street Suite 200 Waltham, MA Phone: +1 (781) Fax: +1 (786) info@zapthink.com Copyright 2002, ZapThink, LLC 5 ZapThink, LLC " 11 Willow Street, Suite 200 " Waltham, MA " info@zapthink.com "