Ensemble's enterprise SOA

InterSystems has added enterprise SOA features to its Ensemble Rapid Integration and Development Platform. The new HL7 Sequence Manager makes it possible to reconstruct an intended message sequence should messages be received out of order and to merge sequences from several different originating applications into a single sequence stream that preserves relative message ordering, reducing the potential for miscommunication. Security features have been augmented with support for the WS-Security 1.1 standard which specifies how to attach digital signatures, encryption headers and security tokens to SOAP messages.

Ensemble now makes it possible to send messages in binary or binary-encoded XML formats within SOAP messages. This leads to significant improvements in Web services performance due to the reduced size of the SOAP message. Embedded tracking capabilities have been extended so that organisations can monitor Ensemble-based systems using third-party SNMP-based solutions and Windows Management Instrumentation and several new integration protocols are now supported. Of special interest to many SOA-focused enterprises is the addition of support for ebXML, a family of XML-based standards sponsored by OASIS and UN/CEFACT. These standards are designed to provide an open XML-based infrastructure that enables the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure and consistent manner.