Sun touts open integration platform

Sun unveils Java Caps 6, its open source integration platform

Technology giant Sun Microsystems has released a new version of its integration platform, Java Composite Application Platform Suite (Caps) 6, which it claims will help businesses create a more agile IT infrastructure.

Java Caps 6 contains: a new modular enterprise service bus, which helps applications interoperate; a new event processing engine; and the latest version of Sun's GlassFish Enterprise Server and the NetBeans integrated development environment (IDE).

Sun claimed that Java Caps 6 is the first enterprise-class service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform developed using open source components. The open source foundation of the platform would reassure those customers worried about vendor lock-in, said Mark Herring, vice president of marketing at Sun. "We also addressed the needs of existing customers by offering easy ways to upgrade and backwards compatibility to previous versions," he said in a statement.

But few in the open source community would be impressed by the move, commented Neil Ward-Dutton, from analyst firm Macehiter Ward-Dutton. “Firstly, open source generally appeals to small and medium sized companies who do not have a lot of money and want to test out a technology,” he said, explaining Java CAPS is too sophisticated for smaller businesses and so the announcement will be quite irrelevant for them.

“The second community generally interested in open source is those who like tweaking stuff, like Google, which tends to supercharge things,” Ward-Dutton continued. But Java Caps does not appeal to that community because it is marketed as an out-of-the-box solution.

Nevertheless, the inclusion of master data management capabilities would make Java Caps 6 appealing to some enterprise buyers, Ward-Dutton added. The product built on SeeBeyond's technology, which Sun acquired in 2005 for $387m.

“Now Sun is showing remaining SeeBeyond Customers it still has a commitment to the integration software,” he said.