Overview of IBM WebSphere Model
WebSphere is the connecting software for resources integration and designing of service-oriented infrastructure. This term is, as a rule, used to refer to a specific product of IBM Company (IBM WebSphere Application Server). WebSphere refers to the category of middleware which is intermediate software allowing performance of electronic business applications at different platforms on the basis of Web technology. “IBM WebSphere comprises a set of products with the goal to help developers deploying Web applications” (Hansmann, 2005).
IBM WebSphere includes a wide range of products, such as, CICS Transaction Server, WebSphere Business Monitor, WebSphere Commerce, WebSphere Edge Server, WebSphere Portal, WebSphere Product Center, WebSphere Customer Center, and a number of other products which are necessary for conducting electronic business. “From a central console, systems administrators can configure, monitor, and manage business integration software across host and distributed platforms” (Spencer, 2004). Certain WebSphere products allow modeling of corporate business processes, connecting with the systems of customers and business partners, direct monitoring of business processes, applications integration, and management of effectiveness and optimization of business processes.
Different application servers utilize Java Messaging Service (JMS) possessing the capabilities of messaging. “JMS and the additional messaging features of WebSphere 5.0 provide further evidence for the fact that the asynchronous and synchronous programming models are both required to build next generation applications” (Francis, High, Hernes, Knutson, Rochat, & Vignola, 2002). The application server is needed for giving these functions to the environments with incorrect infrastructures, as well as for those infrastructures which require a more tight integration and management which can be guaranteed by application server. WebSphere application server consists of numerous server offerings possessing typical for them functions and capabilities. “This allows WebSphere Application Server to address a broad spectrum of solutions, ranging from the most rudimentary web application to transactional and scaleable e-business applications” (Francis et al., 2002).
Advantages of WebSphere from an IT and business perspective
One of the greatest advantages of using WebSphere from the IT perspective is a wide range of products of one and the same family. It is a common knowledge that products designed by one and the same company will perform better together than products from several manufacturers. WebSphere has a complex set of products which, if installed together, can ensure proper carrying out of business processes.
From a business perspective, products offered by WebSphere allow conducting business operations on a high level ensuring at the same time reliable connection with business partners and consumers around the globe. One of WebSphere products, namely, WebSphere Process Server, can be helpful in operating business processes. This program complex serves for the support of solutions created on the basis of service-oriented infrastructure; it is used for realization of complicated business processes, as well of traditional business integration, such as, for instance, application integration on an enterprise scale. WebSphere Process Server is based on another product of this family, WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, and contains all its advantages, namely, clusterization, high operating ratio, and built-in capabilities of messages and transactions management.
Other WebSphere Products Contributing to Advantages of WebSphere for Business
WebSphere Business Monitor
Another WebSphere product which can be helpful in business is WebSphere Business Monitor. This Web application provides the users with instrument panels which allow monitoring of different aspects of business efficiency. Instrument panels are created on the basis of portlets making it possible to quickly find necessary information, to analyze and compile reports on the business efficiency, and to adjust operations and notifications being the phase of business efficiency management. “IBM WebSphere Business Monitor enables users to view dashboards, to analyze how their processes are working, to track individual items, and to identify bottlenecks” (Bieberstein, Laird, Jones, & Mitra, 2008).
WebSphere Business Integration
In addition, WebSphere offers Tops BI services on introduction of integration systems and business process management based on IBM WebSphere Business Integration. “The WebSphere Business Integration family addresses the issue of connectivity management, isolating applications from concern with network protocols and platform dependencies” (Yusuf, 2004). The product can conduct complex survey including business processes and IT-infrastructure analysis; it is able to work out the architecture of integration solution; it can adjust and adapt monitoring means for business processes, informational security, and administration. “The WebSphere Business Integration Family also offers a suite of adapters that bridge between popular off-the-shelf business applications, such as SAP or PeopleSoft, and WebSphere MQ” (Yusuf, 2004).
WebSphere Business Modeler
Finally, IBM WebSphere Business Modeler allows modeling, projecting, and analyzing business processes, integrate new and improved processes, and determine organizational elements, resources, and business objects of the company which are necessary for realization of these processes. The program is aimed at achieving correspondence between object life cycles and models of business process. “Currently supported features include: object life cycle conformance and coverage checking, semi-automatic resolution of selected compliance violations, extraction of object life cycles from a process model, and generation of a process model from several object life cycles” (Alonso, Dadam,& Rosemann, 2007).
WebSphere Business Modeler allows creating the model of processes which is a graphic representation of the business processes existing in the company; resources model which sets different types of resources and their copies used in other models (for instance, the existing corporate informational systems may be used as resources); informational model which is a representation of data structures used in business processes; organizational model which defines the structure of the enterprise, organizational units and resources connected with them; analytical model which sets basic metrics and characteristics of business processes. The creation of these models corresponds to the specification of Business Process Management Notation which is aimed at forming simple and intelligible description of business processes clear to all types of workers starting from business analysts and ending up with technical experts.
Recommendations
Healthcare industry has never employed IT technologies for the improvement of the services it delivers this is why these days the gap between healthcare services and technology is immense. The best way out of this situation is using SOA model which would help to create information exchange system necessary for healthcare industry. The implementation of SOA will advance medicine and improve the quality of healthcare services. SOA plays a significant role in the future of medicine since it allows creating community sites controlled by experts, and different medical blocks, which can facilitate the work of medical librarians, students, scientists, and physicians. Assets and requirements which SOA model comprises will make it possible for other healthcare projects to reuse them. This is beneficial for the healthcare industry where sharing of information is extremely important. Web services are likely not only to change the existing ways of practicing medicine and to improve the delivery of healthcare services, but to reduce costs by means of utilization of IT resources.
References
Alonso, G., Dadam, P., & Rosemann, M. (2007). Business Process Management: 5th International Conference, BPM, Brisbane, Australia, Proceedings. Springer.
Bieberstein, N., Laird, R.G., Jones, K., & Mitra, T. Executing SOA: A Practical Guide For The Service-Oriented Architect. Addison-Wesley.
Francis, T., High, R., Herness, E., Knutson, J., Rochat, K., & Vignola, C. (2002). Professional IBM WebSphere 5.0 Application Server. John Wiley and Sons.
Hansmann, U. (2005). Pervasive Computing: The Mobile World. Springer.
Spencer, D. (2004). IBM Software for E-business on Demand: Business Transformation and the on Demand Software Infrastructure. Maximum Press.
Yusuf, K. (2004). Enterprise Messaging Using JMS and IBM WebSphere. Prentice Hall PTR.