By Susan B. Shor TechNewsWorld Part of the ECT News Network
10/19/05 9:54 AM PT
DataPower's devices move the XML processing out of the server, where traditionally much of the work has been done, and speed it up. Attempts to speed the parsing using only software have been unsuccessful.
eMarketer Whitepaper: Optimizing the E-Commerce Experience
From the Web to the Contact Center, are you prepared to proactively engage and keep your savvy customers? Read how e-commerce leaders are optimizing their sites with ratings, reviews, live help, Web analytics, mobile and more.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced yesterday that it has bought DataPower, a private maker of devices that speed the processing of XML (extensible markup language). The move is a good one for IBM, because "it's one of those acquisitions that stretches across the breadth of the company," Frank Dzubeck, president, Communication Network Architects, told TechNewsWorld.
DataPower, founded in 1999, sells three products that all offload the processing of XML: a basic box that parses the messages, one that adds a security gateway and one that adds transformation services.
Big and Bulky
XML is a standard of tagging used to allow communication between various devices and applications, but it has downsides, such as security weaknesses and bulkiness, that have slowed its adoption and the spread of service-oriented architectures (SOAs). SOAs loosely bind the network and applications to make resources available to users.
"XML is a chatty language, but it's the underpinning of everything. That chattiness comes out in that it produces a degree of overhead that has a negative effect with respect to responsiveness and adoption rates. People are hesitant to buy something that might slow you down a bit," he said.
DataPower's devices move the XML processing out of the server, where traditionally much of the work has been done, and speed it up. Attempts to speed the parsing using only software have been unsuccessful. Dzubeck predicts that IBM's investment in DataPower will speed the adoption of SOAs, but that is merely one benefit of the purchase.
Big Plans
In a conference call, Robert LeBlanc, IBM general manager of WebSphere, said the company will look at incorporating the technology into Websphere, Tivoli, DB2 and cell chips, although it is too soon to make any definitive statements.
"I think they're going to have a lot of fun with it," Dzubeck said. "They talked about putting it in Power PC and cell chips. The cell chip is in the Xbox which is driven by XML. The cell chip may end up being in whole bunches of things."
Dzubeck also said that DataPower, founded by MIT engineer Eugene Kuznetsov with other MIT colleagues, has other innovative ideas that, along with the XML processing patents, will belong to IBM.
"There's a lot of things that were hiding in the closet that they didn't release because they had to focus on the main business," he said, adding that some of those things are likely to come to light through IBM.
All of DataPower's 70 employees will move to IBM and LeBlanc said the company is looking at hiring more people.
Video Game Industry Fights California Restrictions October 18, 2005
"Freedom of expression is at stake," David L. Hudson Jr., research attorney with the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, told the E-Commerce Times. "It is an important case given the proliferation of these violent video game laws. Despite at least three setbacks in the federal courts, these laws keep coming and coming."
Related Stories
IBM Aligns With Univa for Globus Toolkit Development October 03, 2005
The burning question is whether or not IBM will get out of the business of
making its own grid implementation. Illuminata analyst Jonathan Eunice said over time, it makes sense to
do just that. Whether or not IBM agrees with his theory remains to be seen.
IBM Cuts 13,000, but Maybe It Should Have Laid Off One May 09, 2005
The CEOs preceding Louis Gerstner, in order to hit quarterly numbers, divested IBM of key capital assets that had assured IBM's long-term health. A very accurate metaphor was that they consistently sold the geese that were laying the golden eggs, and when they ran out of geese the firm started to collapse.
IBM Gives Developers More XML Tools May 04, 2005
The Compound XML Document Editor uses Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) models to define the semantics of constructing documents spanning one or more namespaces, such as the order and placement of elements, the allowable child elements, and available attributes for each element.
Big Blue's Departure from the PC Biz December 09, 2004
The proposed merger between the IBM PC Company and Lenovo makes the HP/Compaq merger look like a walk in the park. To quote a competitive analysis professional I know (who is ex-IBM himself): "This has all the earmarks of a train wreck of biblical proportions."
Related News Alerts
More by Susan B. Shor
Salesnet President Jonathan Tang Ready to Take On Salesforce.com February 07, 2006
"We think it's Salesnet's time now. We've been around since the beginning, we've been lying low, but you're going to start to see more of us. We've done it through organic growth and happy customers. We continue to focus on customers."
Comcast Follows Time Warner in Offering 'Family' Programming Tier December 23, 2005
"The demand for this type of tier is coming from the FCC and Christian conservatives. It has nothing to do with legitimate consumer demand," Todd Chanko, senior analyst at Jupiter Media, told the E-Commerce Times.
High-Risk Flaw Found in Symantec's Software December 22, 2005
"Part of the significance of this vulnerability announcement is that your machine can be exploited without you needing to do anything at all. You don't even have to open an e-mail or attachment, and this happens with the default configuration of the product," said Forrester Research senior analyst Michael Gavin.
Headline Feeds
Talkback: 
