Siemens Communications Inc. today announced that it is expanding its leadership role in enterprise communications by providing development-friendly, business-focused communication applications across a framework of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) standards and associated Web services interfaces. The Siemens® Communications SOA initiative, which began in 2004, is planned to ultimately encompass all key Siemens enterprise innovations and services - including past and future communication solutions.

SOA is an approach to software development in which applications are broken into distributed, reusable parts. It allows Siemens to reuse basic software components, saving time and money in developing new applications, and the company also is making those elements available to partners in cases where it benefits both parties, said Scott Washburn, global portfolio manager.

The company, a unit of Siemens, is staking its claim to SOA after competitors such as Avaya have announced their intention to use it in the future, Washburn said.

Siemens emphasized that it has already used its SOA framework to develop two components of its HiPath 8000 softswitch: HiPath 8000 Assistant, a management tool, and HiPath Media Server. All future components of HiPath 8000 will either be developed with the SOA framework or integrated into it using Web services, he said. Siemens also used the framework to create the software development kit (SDK) for its HiPath OpenScape collaboration portal, Washburn said.

Other highlights from Siemens' Communications SOA initiative:

* Siemens has aligned its Communications SOA and software design framework with IBM and SAP to embed its communication software components into IBM's WebSphere and Service Delivery Platform (SDP) and into SAP's Netweaver solution.
* Using its SOA framework, Siemens HiPath OpenScape collaboration portal and presence features are embedded into IBM, SAP and Microsoft business collaboration systems.
* Siemens identity and access management features are integrated into SAP solutions.
* Reusable Siemens Communication SOA components now make up the Media Server and Management tools for the HiPath 8000 native SIP-based IP softswitch.

The Siemens Communications SOA platform and associated Web services interfaces are built on open standards to help maximize the use of reusable communication components with any network or business process. Since the beginning of its Communications SOA initiative, Siemens joined IBM as leading members of the OSGi Alliance (formerly known as the Open Services Gateway Initiative) to help ensure common specifications and technologies.

Prashanth Rai