The first two applications to leverage Siemens’ OpenSOA architecture, the HiPath 8000 Assistant and the HiPath 8000 Media Server, are now being delivered with the flagship HiPath 8000 SIP-based softswitch.
Siemens OpenSOA is a key component of Siemens Enterprise Communications’ Open Communications strategy, which ensures customers are able to deploy and benefit from Siemens’ offerings regardless of their current network or communication environment.
OpenSOA also provides the basis for shared business functionality among applications, creating new synergies for users across the enterprise. For example, customers can expect to benefit from common SOA-based software services such as enterprise-wide rich-presence, location, notification and collaboration capabilities. This means professional knowledge workers, contact center service agents and mobile users alike can instantly determine availability to communicate via their preferred media, and collaborate in real-time with ease.
“Siemens OpenSOA is designed to provide an unprecedented level of consistency across applications, thanks to its component-based SOA architecture and common software services,” said Tim Bishop, head of strategy, Siemens Enterprise Communications. “The new open, standards-based approach also makes integration with key line of business applications much easier, allowing enterprises to communications-enable their critical business processes.”
OpenSOA is the latest evolution of Siemens’ SOA strategy and will be the strategic foundation for Siemens’ unified communications, unified messaging and contact center applications. Rather than just reusing existing legacy applications with a Web services interface or ‘wrapping’ them with third-party middleware, the OpenSOA environment has been engineered from its inception to benefit from a comprehensive SOA-based architecture. Common services and business functionality have been completely rebuilt with Java and XML, leveraging industry standard SOA interfaces.
“What is different about the Siemens approach with OpenSOA is how comprehensive the approach is. By being open from the ground up, Siemens will provide greater value to customers seeking real SOA-related benefits, while providing a pathway to true unified communications solutions by consolidating information and interfaces across multiple applications,” said Blair Pleasant, President & Principal Analyst of COMMfusion LLC and Co-Founder at UCStrategies.com.
As a demonstration of open, standards-based integration, Siemens OpenSOA framework has achieved the “Powered by SAP NetWeaver” designation. Furthermore, with the next release of OpenScape, OpenSOA will be leveraged to integrate presence into the IBM Lotus Sametime environment. These integrations with SAP and IBM are evidence of an industry-wide trend toward open standards-based architectures, which ultimately benefit enterprise customers in terms of lower cost of ownership, and greater freedom of choice.
NHS Trust in Newcastle, United Kingdom -- a Siemens customer using the HiPath 8000 -- believes in the value of SOA. "Siemens SOA applications for the HiPath 8000 are part of an open, standards-based framework that attracted us to Siemens in the first place," said Robin Smith, Estates Consultant of Newcastle NHS Trust. "In addition, because Siemens is embracing SOA in a comprehensive manner, we know that these applications are part of a well thought out architecture."