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'Integration and SOA: Concepts, Technologies, and Best Practices' Offers a Common Sense Guide to Leveraging Integration and SOA for Business Process Improvement SAN DIEGO, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Gartner Application Integration and Web Services Summit -- webMethods, Inc. (NASDAQ:WEBM), a leading business integration and optimization software company, along with ebizQ, the Insider's Guide to SOA and Integration, today announced the publication of Integration and SOA: Concepts, Technologies, and Best Practices, a new book by webMethods' Gary So and Beth Gold-Bernstein of ebizQ. Written for business managers and IT practitioners, Integration and SOA: Concepts, Technologies, and Best Practices provides practical recommendations on how to take advantage of these approaches within the enterprise, with case studies from the webMethods customer base illustrating the real-world benefits that organizations have achieved. The book also serves as a primer on the key technologies associated with integration and service-oriented architecture (SOA) while highlighting the organizational considerations that readers should plan for in their initiatives as well. Throughout the book, a specific focus is maintained on providing best practices for maximizing success while avoiding the pitfalls common to many projects. "Despite mainstream adoption and their critical status, there continues to be tremendous demand for easy-to-digest and actionable information on integration and SOA. This book is a response to the requests that we've had from customers who want to learn how to target specific integration and SOA opportunities, build the business case for these investments, and better understand the technology and implementation factors," said Gary So, vice president, office of the CTO, webMethods, Inc. "In addition, by emphasizing the defining concepts and best practices, we set forth to produce a book that will be as relevant tomorrow as it is today for as broad an audience as possible." The book begins by examining the business imperatives behind integration and SOA, which relate directly to the corporate need for greater agility. In order to operate more effectively, enterprises are demanding more seamless integration between systems, operations and processes to deliver greater efficiency, adaptability and agility. At the root of this requirement is the ability to leverage existing IT resources to address new business, competitive and market requirements. Lack of an effective business integration strategy has typically inhibited these efforts. In response, Integration and SOA: Concepts, Technologies, and Best Practices offers a real-world roadmap for creating and implementing such a strategy. In doing so, it offers readers a model for discussing benefits and requirements in business terms while helping line-of-business employees better understand the underlying technology that supports and often defines their organizations. Building upon this point, the book follows with a description of typical use cases for integration software, a guide to the enabling technologies, and an explanation of the role of SOA. "Organizations are striving to understand the fundamental role that business integration can play in driving -- or inhibiting -- better corporate performance," said Beth Gold-Bernstein, vice president and Director of the ebizQ Learning Center. "This is particularly true as businesses become more dynamic in their operations and global in their reach. Coupled with the expanded pace of M & A activity, the need for a comprehensive business integration strategy has never been greater." According to John Schmidt, President of the Integration Consortium, "your competitors can buy the same software from ERP vendors and industry solution providers, so how can you differentiate yourself from an information technology perspective? The answer lies not in optimizing the parts, but in optimizing the whole through effective end-to-end integration of business processes and information. Motivated by the emergence of SOA, many are rediscovering this important premise. They would be well-served to first read Gary and Beth's new book -- Integration and SOA: Concepts, Technologies, and Best Practices -- as an excellent and comprehensive treatment of the subject." Complementary copies of the book -- in either a printed, soft cover version or as an electronic eBook -- can be secured by visiting http://www.ebizq.net/soaebook. About ebizQ Founded in 1997, ebizQ is the definitive destination website for business and IT professionals, vendors, and industry analysts who exchange information on SOA and business integration technologies, problems, and solutions. ebizQ provides corporations worldwide the most comprehensive and timely information available on market trends, best practices, vendors and their products. Drawing from years of knowledge and a deep understanding of SOA and integration, ebizQ has launched its Training Center, offering a comprehensive, vendor neutral curriculum on SOA and business integration for both business and technical professionals. Learn more about the ebizQ curriculum at http://www.ebizq.net/trainingcenter. About webMethods, Inc. webMethods (NASDAQ:WEBM) provides business integration software to integrate, assemble and optimize available IT assets to drive business process productivity. webMethods delivers an innovative, enterprise-class business integration platform that incorporates proven integration technology with next generation capabilities into one interoperable set of tools that delivers a unique combination of efficiency, agility and control. webMethods combines industry leadership with a zealous commitment to customers to deliver tangible business value to over 1,400 global customers. webMethods is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan. The webMethods name and logo are registered trademarks of, and webMethods Fabric is a trademark of, webMethods, Inc. All other marks mentioned are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies. DATASOURCE: webMethods, Inc. CONTACT: John Conley of webMethods, +1-703-460-5996, Web site: http://www.webmethods.com/ http://www.ebizq.net/soaebook http://www.ebizq.net/trainingcenter

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