XML-J: webMethods has been making big waves in the XML and B2B industry. Tell us how you got into this highly competitive field.

Allen: In early 1997 webMethods submitted the specification for WIDL (Web Interface Definition Language) to the W3C. It was the same year webMethods shipped the first commercial product supporting XML. In 1998 webMethods and Microsoft coauthored the specification for XQL, which was derived in large part from the work webMethods pioneered in developing a compact syntax for querying HTML and XML documents.

Since webMethods' mission from inception was to make it as easy for companies to connect their back-end systems over the Internet as the browser made it for humans to access data on the Internet, webMethods was always focused on using XML for server-to-server communication. As a result, webMethods created the first XML-RPC while the rest of the market was focused on XML documents and the manipulation of XML by browsers. webMethods was the first architect partner in the RosettaNet consortium and was instrumental in driving RosettaNet to move from EDI document formats to XML. At present more than 50% of the RosettaNet deployments are on webMethods B2B platform.

webMethods coauthored cXML with Ariba, and OEMed the webMethods B2B platform to SAP to XML-enable all SAP applications, coauthoring XML-BAPI and XML-IDOC in the process.

webMethods participates broadly in standards initiatives, including ebXML (the webMethods implementation used as the reference implementation for the first demo of ebXML), OAG, UDDI, BizTalk, RosettaNet, FpML, CIDX, EIDX....

XML-J: Where do you think XML and related technologies are going in the future?

Allen: The focus in the industry is on applications of XML and frameworks within which to exchange XML-based documents or messages. So the focus is really on "related technologies." XML's impact was that it catapulted the imagination of many to understanding the possibilities in applying Internet-derived technologies and distributed computing concepts to driving efficiencies in business exchanges and creating new business models. It's not really about XML anymore. ebXML is more about related technologies than it is about XML. UDDI certainly makes use of XML, and leverages the fact that it's based on XML, but the focus is on the business problem being solved.

In the future related technologies are going to have to address more "policy" issues, the legal ramifications of making one company's systems dependent on the services of external entities. Today it often takes longer to get the legal issues and quality-of-service issues resolved than to integrate businesses.

XML-J: XML seems to be closely tied to Java. Yet it's supposedly a platform-independent way of formatting and transporting data.

Allen: XML and Java as technologies can of course exist and thrive wholly independent of each other. Yet both ushered in revolutions in the development and deployment of information systems. The revolution in data formatting was built on top of the revolution in cross-platform deployment, and both were intimately associated with the explosion of the World Wide Web.

Both XML and Java have been tremendously important to the success of webMethods. webMethods has been an early adopter, champion, and leader in the application of both technologies. Interestingly, webMethods was one of the very first companies to focus on server-side Java (our CTO developed the first Java-based distributed platform in October of 1995), as well as the first company to focus on server-side processing of XML (while the rest of the world was focused on delivery of XML to the browser, webMethods implemented an XML-RPC).

XML-J: Most of the XML enablers have grown out of application server environments, OODB environments, and so on. You started with XML. What legacy does your company come with?

Allen: Most of the early XML enablers actually came from the realm of document management. Many of the XML enablers today do indeed come from application server environments...but app servers are not integration platforms. Despite the hype, XML-enabled app servers are really best suited for delivery of XML (and XSL) to browsers and handheld devices.

webMethods heritage is distributed computing: DCE, CORBA, transaction processors, and message-oriented middleware. The founders all came from companies that were deploying large-scale distributed systems, both middleware technologies and management technologies, for Global 2000 companies.

XML-J: Who are your main competitors?

Allen: The industry analysts tell us that webMethods now exists in a gray area between IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and the traditional EAI vendors who are attempting to move into B2B. EAI vendors typically view B2B as an adapter problem, not a separate "class of problems" requiring a distinct architecture. The reality is that we run into different vendors in different verticals, and who we run into has changed quite a bit through time. The combination of webMethods and Active Software has given webMethods an end-to-end integration capability that's unmatched.

XML-J: How are your offerings different from your competitors'? How do you plan to offer unique value in the e-business space?

Allen: First, webMethods B2B is the only product in the market that was designed from the ground up to address the unique class of problems posed by B2B. Second, webMethods is the only vendor in the space to offer an end-to-end solution, including a B2B server, an enterprise server (high-speed message switch), and a mainframe integration server. Third, webMethods ATC (Application Transaction Coordinator) is unique in the marketplace. Only webMethods has the technology to ensure end-to-end transaction integrity, synchronizing multiple disparate applications. This technology is very different than transaction processors, which operate only on resources with XA interfaces. Fourth, webMethods for Trading Networks is the first and only offering of its kind in the B2B market. Built on the experience of more than 150 of our approximately 425 customers (only webMethods has more than 150 customers doing exclusively B2B), webMethods for Trading Networks provides unprecedented manageability, visibility, and analysis of trading networks. Fifth, webMethods B2B.com is the first and only offering of its kind in the B2B market. B2B.com represents the distilled knowledge webMethods has garnered from helping our customers deploy and maintain the infrastructure for trading networks. Sixth, only webMethods has preferred relationships with SAP, Oracle, i2, Ariba, and Commerce One. webMethods' technology is the supplier on-ramp of choice in the industry, and benefits from this vantage point.

XML-J: Please describe your product line.

Allen: Whether linking internal systems together or with key customers or suppliers, or creating a B2B marketplace to connect buyers and sellers, webMethods' solutions completely automate intra- and intercompany business processes, including capabilities for deploying, scaling, and managing multiple trading networks. This includes supply chain management, procurement, logistics, and sell-side/buy-side e-commerce, to name a few.

XML-J: At JavaOne '98 your product was based on WIDL. Now it's called FLOW. Can you explain the rationale for the translation?

Allen: WIDL was an IDL written in XML that contained special extensions that you would normally find in a protocol (e.g., "retries"). WIDL also had extensions to perform "bindings" against XML or HTML data for the purpose of populating the variables described by the IDL. Furthermore, WIDL enabled chaining of services so that the output of one service could be "piped" into the inputs of a subsequent service.

webMethods FLOW grew out of the realization that WIDL was becoming more like a specialized programming language. WIDL's biggest weakness was that it was hard to keep track of the flow of data from one service to the next. Also, it was constrained to describing the request/response behavior of HTTP interactions.

webMethods FLOW goes far beyond addressing the weaknesses of WIDL; it's a specialized language readily amenable to the visual manipulation of self-describing data structures; it contains features you'd normally find in a protocol; it's geared toward connecting self-contained sources where you know very little about the behavior of each individual source. FLOW exposes how data moves through a system; it enables rapid assembly and reuse of arbitrary services; it describes how data moving across sets of services can be transformed. Every FLOW describes a new service, which can in turn be used within a parent FLOW.

XML-J: Why would a business use your technology instead of the standard connectivity offered by application server vendors?

Allen: Application servers aren't integration platforms. Let's say you needed to integrate packaged apps (SAP, Siebel). Would you use an application server? Definitely not. Application servers are for building new applications. They don't provide pub/sub features or message queues, and they can only offer transactional integrity within the context of new applications built directly against databases. Let's say that the two packaged apps you wanted to integrate were in different physical locations - for instance, if the SAP system were in-house and the Siebel instance resided at an ASP. Well, you could certainly use an app server to build something that could pass XML messages back and forth, but what happens when you also need to connect your SAP instance to mySAP.com, Ariba Network, Commerce One Marketplace, and to a business partner using RosettaNet? Do you keep doing one-offs? Until ultimately your IT department is constantly maintaining a custom application, or many stovepipe applications that weren't designed with broad-based B2B integration in mind? App servers don't provide a platform for scalable, manageable, B2B trading networks.

XML-J: How would your products be used to create an end-to-end e-business solution? If someone was shopping in the market today, what would they need to get started?

Allen: webMethods bundles our product lines in webMethods B2Bi Solution Suite. This includes everything a customer requires to get started with both internal and external integration. An end-to-end integration solution includes webMethods' enterprise brokers for internal pub/sub message routing and message queuing, our ATC for end-to-end transaction integrity, our development tools, our B2B for external multiframework integration, our B2B for Partners for deployment to business partners where appropriate, our mainframe integration server, and an ˆ la carte menu of more than 50 adapters for connectivity to other internal and external business systems.

Customers can get started with any of the three servers independently: Enterprise, B2B, or mainframe. Or they can buy the solution suite and have a full complement of integration capabilities.

XML-J: webMethods seems to be partnering with a lot of major players. How do you plan to leverage your partnerships with them?

Allen: webMethods is leveraging these partnerships today. Every webMethods partnership has real substance behind it. With Oracle we're helping to connect suppliers to instances of Oracle Exchange. With Ariba we've done numerous joint seminars and are the preferred provider of on-ramps to the Ariba network. This translates directly into sales leads. We helped Rightworks to integrate with i2, we helped SAP build mySAP.com, and we OEMed our technology to JD Edwards (and SAP) - all of which plant seeds in the market.

XML-J: I believe webMethods was one of the first companies to adopt "B2B" in their product name. Now everyone seems to offer a "total B2B solution." If I say "webMethods' B2B Integration Server," it seems like "me-too."

Allen: webMethods was the first with a B2B solution. "webMethods B2B" shipped in mid-1998. We also have long owned the domain "B2B.com," which we purchased in 1998 for $27,000 from an auto property, "Bumper2Bumper". webMethods also introduced the term B2Bi to focus on the integration of systems across businesses, since the term B2B quickly became overused and overhyped.

Since B2B means so many things, I can't imagine what a "total B2B solution" amounts to. B2Bi is a subset of B2B, and we're certain there isn't any other company offering a true end-to-end "total" B2Bi solution. Given this, I don't see how any company could have "total B2B." We have to remember that XML does not equal B2B.

XML-J: Who are your biggest customers? How did they select you?

Allen: Grainger, Dell, Eastman, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, Corporate Express, SAP, Cable & Wireless, GE Power, GE Plastics, Motorola, Rockwell, Starbucks, SBC....

webMethods enjoys tremendous success because of the rapid referenceability of our customers. Selling B2Bi solutions means we have to be as much a business partner with our customers as a vendor of software. We have to help our customers convince their partners of the business value of integrating their systems, and we have to have demonstrable proof statements in very short periods of time.

Also, while webMethods' software is not required on both sides of the fence, we're able to deploy webMethods B2B for partners very effectively because companies recognize that it's not another application server, not another piece of middleware, but a high-value platform that can focus the discipline of B2B integration across all of their efforts, whether in connecting to marketplaces or integrating directly with suppliers and customers. Hence many of webMethods' customers selected webMethods B2B after direct experience with the product as a spoke, connecting to another hub.

XML-J: How do your enterprise products scale? What type of solutions do you provide for high availability and fault tolerance?

Allen: Many of the webMethods Enterprise deals have been based on significant scalability testing. webMethods supports clustering of B2B servers for high availability and fault tolerance in high-transaction environments, and multibroker architectures for high availability and fault tolerance when high-speed "switching" is required in pub/sub or "transactional synchronization" environments.

XML-J: Security is a big concern in e-business. How do you ensure security in your product?

Allen: WebMethods B2B supports SSL, S/MIME, Access Control Lists, LDAP...we've invested heavily in vulnerability testing of webMethods' products and provide significant resources to our customers to help them understand broad security issues holistically.

XML-J: Your recent acquisition of Active Software indicates a move into the workflow arena. How does that fit into your corporate strategy?

Allen: With the acquisition of Active Software, webMethods has acquired technologies for business process management: the graphical depiction and automatic generation of underlying infrastructure to support both complex and simple business processes. These technologies were recently unveiled to the marketplace as webMethods Business Integrator, which already supports both webMethods B2B and webMethods Enterprise (formerly ActiveWorks), due to the fact that webMethods B2B and ActiveWorks have been integrated now for many months. One major difference in webMethods' technologies is that traditional workflow products have evolved from the automation of human-based tasks, and are embodied in B2B primarily as document-routing engines, whereas webMethods technologies evolved from the automation of system-to-system tasks. webMethods for Trading Networks provides greatly differentiated document-routing and reporting capabilities because it builds on the strengths of webMethods B2B, with enhanced visibility into the underlying processes that support moving documents around. This means that the alerts, notifications, and other workflow capabilities of webMethods for Trading Networks can provide far richer levels of sophistication, which ultimately means that businesses can make more informed decisions. The architectures of workflow tools that grew up as document-routing systems run into a brick wall beyond which they cannot penetrate.

Human-based inputs are required in all business processes, and webMethods' capabilities in this regard will continue to strengthen.

XML-J: What's the easiest way for our readers to start playing around with your products?

Allen: webMethods' products are available only to qualified prospects. If a company has an instance of SAP, they have either been provided with, or can download, SAP Business Connector, which is essentially the core webMethods' B2B platform. Customers of Oracle Exchange and i2 TradeMatrix also have access to components of webMethods' solutions. He can be contacted at: ajit@Sys-con.com