IBM has announced new software and services as part of its ongoing SOA strategy. The new software  are based on IBM’s experience with an estimated 1,800 SOA customer engagements in companies of all sizes across all industries.

“An SOA plays a strategic role in any company – from a retailer to a car manufacturer to a financial institution – because it enables people to collaborate and innovate, identify new business opportunities, and move the customers’ needs to the forefront,” said Steve Mills (pictured), senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software Group.

The company has identified five entry points to enable customers to more easily approach and initiate an SOA project. These entry points include people-, process- and information-centric approaches as well as connectivity and the ability to reuse existing assets. Four new software releases target these SOA starting points, and are complemented by a set of industry-specific models to support SOA. Additionally, IBM is announcing new SOA services.

IBM showcased The Pep Boys and Harley-Davidson during its announcement, with executives from both companies explaining how they're integrating IBM-based SOA architectures into their businesses. IBM executives, in response to a question from SOA Web Services Journal, said that companies as small as about $100 million in revenue can take advantage of the new offerings within IBM's SOA offerings.

For supporting a people-centric approach to SOA, WebSphere Portal version 6.0 integrates IBM Workplace and collaborative technologies, making it easier for users to build and deploy composite applications that can be tailored by industry, role or task. The new release takes advantage of AJAX, IBM says, "to create a more responsive user environment. Additionally, the latest version provides a workflow builder that utilizes the process engine from WebSphere Process Server, open standards-based software powered by WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) that helps simplify the integration of business processes," the company said.

To improve business visibility and deliver a process-centric approach to SOA, IBM also announced WebSphere Business Monitor version 6.0. This software provides an aerial view of the business and enables customers to proactively identify potential issues before they impact productivity, the company says.

New features in WebSphere Business Monitor include business alerts, links to third party reports that combine real-time performance and historical analysis, and scorecards to track the status and metrics of projects. For example, the software allows a business user to create an automated alert signaling each time a competitor makes a market-shifting move. The alert could be integrated with third party research, customer feedback and recommended next steps that could help minimize the impact of a competitor’s move on the market.