Blogger: Anne Thomas Manes
My recent product profile on IBM WebSphere Service Registry and Repository (WSRR) is attracting a lot of attention. Burton Group APS clients can download the article from here. For non-clients, TechTarget provides an excellent summary of the article here
I characterize WSRR as a platform-specific registry and repository. A registry enables information exchange among runtime systems, while a repository manages information and provides governance capabilities such as lifecycle and policy management. I must applaud IBM for the repository features of the product, but I want to slap them for spurning UDDI.
While the industry has never adopted a standard for repositories, the same is not true for registries. UDDI defines a widely adopted standard registry protocol that enables diverse runtime systems to share information. Runtime infrastructure products that rely on UDDI to enable information exchange include all web services management products (e.g., AmberPoint, Actional, SOA Software, webMethods Infravio X-Broker, Oracle Web Services Manager, HP SOA Manager, and CA WSDM), all XML gateways (e.g., Cisco Reactivity, Forum Systems, IBM DataPower, Layer 7, and Vordel), and quite a few ESBs (e.g., BEA AquaLogic, Oracle ESB, Software AG crossvision, Sonic ESB, Tibco BusinessWorks, etc.). Most development tools (e.g., Visual Studio, Eclipse, NetBeans, IntelliJ, etc) include wizards that use UDDI to query a registry.
But WSRR does not support the UDDI protocol. Instead it exposes a proprietary protocol (via Java/SDO and SOAP). Runtime infrastructure products that support the WSRR protocol include IBM WebSphere ESB, IBM WebSphere Process Server, IBM WebSphere Message Broker, IBM DataPower appliances, and IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager (ITCAM) for SOA. Notice the abundance of IBM products and the absence of third-party vendor products in that list. IBM has developed a plug-in for Eclipse and Rational that enables these tools to query the registry/repository. No other tools can interface with WSRR.
The soon-to-be released WSRR v6.0.2 (available May 25) will include a UDDI synchronization framework, which will enable reasonable coexistence between WSRR and a separate UDDI registry. IBM even includes a separate UDDI registry with the product. But I don’t think this makes up for the fact that WSRR does not directly support the UDDI protocol or for the fact that IBM has chosen to implement support for WSRR’s proprietary registry protocol rather than UDDI in its plethora of runtime products. This is clearly a proprietary platform strategy.
IBM—supposedly a great proponent of standards—is proving its true colors.
Bottom line: WSRR will appeal to organizations that exclusively use IBM SOA infrastructure, but it is inappropriate for organizations that use a heterogeneous environment.
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