BMC's Control-M Business Process Integration Suite integrates real-time processes with batch systems on mainframes or other platforms such as ERP systems. A single point of control is provided for processes that are executed internally or with partners.
"It's an extension to our Control-M product that actually facilitates business-process integration in a different way than traditional tools," said Gur Steif, director for the Control-M line of business at BMC. Customers can link batch processes to J2EE systems, Web services, and messaging systems such as MQ or Java Message Service. Microsoft .Net applications are supported via Web services.
Formatted as adapters tying into the pre-existing Control-M platform, the new offering is intended to connect data residing in isolated silos. In transactional systems, for example, there usually are real-time processes that connect to order-fulfillment systems running in a batch mode, said Steif.
"What we do today is provide a capability to tie together online or interactive applications with the batch application and provide a unified business process across both," Steif added.
The product also enables forecasting, in which future operational loads can be gauged by compiling statistics on what has transpired.
"I think that BMC is going in absolutely in the right direction" with the product, said Richard Ptak, principal analyst at Ptak, Noel & Associates. "They put a lot of effort into understanding just exactly what it is that the customers need [and what] their enterprises need, and [are] putting it together in a format that's immediately usable by their customer base."
The suite, Ptak said, "bridges the alignment gap between technology-oriented IT processes and business processes."
Control-M Business Process Integration Suite is available now, with prices starting at US$15,000.