On 25 September 2007, Cape Clear, a leading enterprise service bus (ESB) provider, announced the immediate availability of version 7.5 of its ESB platform.

ESB technology is a critical enabler for service-oriented architecture (SOA). As such, purchases are growing spectacularly and many vendors are trying to grab a share of this market, making differentiation increasingly difficult. Cape Clear is trying to differentiate itself by repositioning its technology as an enabler of integration as a service (IaaS), a form of software as a service (SaaS). Other integration software vendors, such as Boomi, have recently targeted their solutions at the SaaS market.

Cape Clear 7.5 introduces a multitenancy capability that allows partitioning of ESB message traffic as well as administration, logging and reporting across multiple sets of users. Each set works with its own “virtual private ESB" and doesn't interfere with the activity of virtual ESBs belonging to other sets of users. This capability can be leveraged by service providers, which can tailor an IaaS or SaaS offering on top of it. This offers IaaS providers a new, SOA-based approach to their market. Cape Clear’s strategy is not to enter the IaaS market but rather to enable telecoms, system integrators and other players to do so.

Other new features in Cape Clear 7.5 include a simplified development, configuration and deployment tool (SOA Assembly Editor); usability and quality-of-service improvements to the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL)-based orchestration feature; and pre-built support for 15 different transport protocols, including Web services protocols, Representational State Transfer (REST), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Java Messaging Service (JMS) and Really Simple Syndication (RSS).

Cape Clear's challenges include overcoming users' lack of awareness about IaaS, establishing a reasonable number of productive partnerships for the IaaS proposition, and proving the value proposition with concrete references while at the same time serving and growing its traditional business.

• Cape Clear customers: The new positioning will not affect your current operations, but Cape Clear 7.5 offers improvements that are worth considering independently from the multitenancy capability. View this as an opportunity for consolidation or for improving security and manageability in large ESB deployments. But be aware that the multitenancy capability is unproven in the market.
• Organizations looking for an ESB: Evaluate Cape Clear 7.5 as the latest rendition of a proven product with a reasonable installed base and scalable BPEL engine, and not just based on its multitenancy capability.
• SaaS and IaaS service providers: Cape Clear is anticipating a trend that other ESB players will likely pursue. If you wish to implement your own multienterprise integration, evaluate the opportunities that Cape Clear 7.5 offers.

• "Enterprise Service Bus Usage Scenarios and Product Categories" — This research describes two ESB usage scenarios and the associated technical requirements and product features that address those scenarios. By Roy Schulte
• "Microsoft, Verizon and Other Vendors Drive IaaS Maturity" — This research explains how vendors with diverse roles in IT and go-to-market strategies have initiated events that collectively will help modernize and mature the IaaS market segment. By Benoit Lheureux

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