Customers ask Actional to watch for stalled Web services
Last week, Actional Corporation (Actional) announced a new capability — called watchdogs — for its Web services management platform. Watchdogs will be added to the Looking Glass centralized management console at no additional charge, starting with .NET now, and soon to be released for J2EE.
Watchdogs are a technology that allow companies to test Web services and to make sure they are functioning correctly. While they don't qualify as a full-fledged testing solution, they do allow Looking Glass customers to do three important tasks:
While these are interesting capabilities themselves, the more intriguing aspect of the announcement was that watchdogs were customer-inspired. Real, paying Actional customers asked for this capability.
Usually, version 1 of a software product, if it is released under that number at all, is used to test the market and seed beta accounts. Version 2 is often more feature complete— most likely what the vendor wanted version 1 to do but didn't have the time or resources to deliver. Version 3 is most interesting, because if the vendor is abel to survive this long, this version tends to reflect the needs of actual customers.
In the case of watchdogs, this release tells us something about the evolving state of Web services. Most companies have bought into the premise of XML and Web service-enabling software. Many have actually enabled systems, using tools from vendors like Systinet and Cape Clear or relying on app servers from companies like IBM, Microsoft, or BEA Systems. Now, in the case of Actional watchdogs, it shows that companies are struggling to deal with real-world Web service implementation issues. Having come to rely on the new technology, users need to make sure it continues to function properly.
Watchdogs are part of a larger trend to deliver not only management, but continuous monitoring and testing of Web services. As with all things XML and Web services, the standards-based underpinnings and non-proprietary interfaces mean that existing vendors in a variety of markets will have to battle upstarts to retain market relevancy. For example, established Web application testing houses like Mercury Interactive and Empirix should be extremely worried about a solution like watchdogs. While Actional doesn't have a full testing solution today, we can imagine that as the company delivers more of what we call SIL (services infrastructure layer) plug-ins, offering a management as well as testing plug-in is not such a stretch — and, in fact, may soon become a common request from customers.
Watchdogs are a technology that allow companies to test Web services and to make sure they are functioning correctly. While they don't qualify as a full-fledged testing solution, they do allow Looking Glass customers to do three important tasks:
- Ensure a Web serviceis alive. A watchdog can be set to periodically ping a Web service to make sure it is functioning.
- Measure the performance of real and synthetic Web service traffic. Looking Glass could already measure the performance of active Web services; the watchdog technology allows it to measure synthetic pings to understand how well a Web service is performing even without real traffic.
- Test for policy adherence. A watchdog can also be used to make sure a policy — like a security policy — is being properly enforced.
While these are interesting capabilities themselves, the more intriguing aspect of the announcement was that watchdogs were customer-inspired. Real, paying Actional customers asked for this capability.
Usually, version 1 of a software product, if it is released under that number at all, is used to test the market and seed beta accounts. Version 2 is often more feature complete— most likely what the vendor wanted version 1 to do but didn't have the time or resources to deliver. Version 3 is most interesting, because if the vendor is abel to survive this long, this version tends to reflect the needs of actual customers.
In the case of watchdogs, this release tells us something about the evolving state of Web services. Most companies have bought into the premise of XML and Web service-enabling software. Many have actually enabled systems, using tools from vendors like Systinet and Cape Clear or relying on app servers from companies like IBM, Microsoft, or BEA Systems. Now, in the case of Actional watchdogs, it shows that companies are struggling to deal with real-world Web service implementation issues. Having come to rely on the new technology, users need to make sure it continues to function properly.
Watchdogs are part of a larger trend to deliver not only management, but continuous monitoring and testing of Web services. As with all things XML and Web services, the standards-based underpinnings and non-proprietary interfaces mean that existing vendors in a variety of markets will have to battle upstarts to retain market relevancy. For example, established Web application testing houses like Mercury Interactive and Empirix should be extremely worried about a solution like watchdogs. While Actional doesn't have a full testing solution today, we can imagine that as the company delivers more of what we call SIL (services infrastructure layer) plug-ins, offering a management as well as testing plug-in is not such a stretch — and, in fact, may soon become a common request from customers.