IBM Acquires Web Site Development Technology from Wallop Software
Web Site Assembly Environment to be Integrated into IBM WebSphere Studio and Licensed to NetObjects
Somers, NY (October 26, 1998) – IBM today announced that it has acquired Wallop Build-IT, a Web content assembly and management tool, from Wallop Software, Inc. IBM plans to incorporate Build-IT into the IBM WebSphere Studio to further enhance the Studio’s capabilities.
In addition, IBM announced that it will license the Build-IT technology to NetObjects, a privately-held company partially funded by IBM. The technology will complement NetObjects’ existing product family.
IBM WebSphere Studio is an integrated set of Web site development and management tools for the WebSphere Application Server family. As a result of adding the Build-IT technology to the Studio, members of Web site development teams, from graphic designers and content managers to Web-based programmers, can easily assemble and manage content in new ways to create powerful Web sites that are key to a company’s success as an e-business.
“IBM will continue to strengthen the WebSphere product line to offer the most comprehensive solution for building, deploying and managing Web-based applications ranging from simple Web sites to powerful e-business solutions,” said Paraic Sweeney, vice president, IBM Web Server Marketing. “Our latest move enhances the WebSphere Studio and extends its open nature to help Web developers through all stages of development — from Web site authoring, content creation and dynamic presentation to tapping into back-end systems and extending them to the Web.”
The next release of WebSphere Studio’s workbench will incorporate Wallop Build-IT technology. This workbench gives a unified view of all components in a Web site, from which individual tools, such as NetObjects Fusion, are launched to aid in creating and updating a Web site. The Studio’s workbench integrates the tools, making it faster and easier for customers to build powerful, dynamic e-business applications.
Creating and maintaining a dynamic Web site involves a wide range of Web assembly tasks, many of them repetitive and highly manual, to be performed by Web masters and developers. The workbench helps automate these tasks, such as updating all the links of a Web site following changing the site’s structure or renaming files. The high degree of automation dramatically increases productivity of Web site development while lowering the cost of Web site maintenance.
IBM will also provide a direct, standards-based interface from WebSphere Studio’s workbench to VisualAge TeamConnection, IBM’s team-based repository for building enterprise applications. The repository is a mechanism that allows teams of application developers to have access to the various aspects of the application through the development process, such as models and Enterprise JavaBean components. Through the interface, Web site developers will have access to enterprise assets that were previously only available to enteprise-level application developers.
WebSphere Studio offers Web site developers a comprehensive solution that combines the workbench with the leading IBM and non-IBM tools, while allowing developers to also launch tools that are not included in the Studio. In addition to the workbench, WebSphere Studio currently includes IBM’s VisualAge for Java development environment, NetObjects Fusion, a powerful authoring tool, NetObjects ScriptBuilder, a script development tool, and NetObjects BeanBuilder, a JavaBean component assembly tool.
NetObjects and Build-IT
The Build-IT technology will interoperate with NetObjects products. Build’IT’s application assembly technology will enable NetObjects to further enhance the NetObjects Authoring Server Suite’s collaborative Web authoring environment for both Web site builders and application developers.
In addition, users of Build-IT can launch NetObjects ScriptBuilder and NetObjects BeanBuilder, and use Build-IT to manage the scripts and JavaBean-based applications they create. NetObjects Fusion users can use Build-IT to manage the assets of complex Web sites.
Support for existing Build-IT customers
As part of this agreement, IBM takes over support for all existing Wallop Build-IT customers, which include many Fortune 500 companies. These customers will also be given copies of the current version of WebSphere Studio. When the next release of the WebSphere Studio tool set becomes available early in 1999, IBM will work with these customers and upgrade them to the new integrated product.
The Global Investor Services division of the Chase Manhattan Bank currently uses Wallop Build-IT to manage the Techweb site on its intranet, an internal site that facilitates communication within Chase. “This tool is a powerful team-based environment that our developers use to assemble and manage content from a wide range of sources to create and manage the site,” said Roger Cousins, vice president of Global Investor Services for the Chase Manhattan Bank. “We look forward to IBM’s support and future enhancements to this technology within WebSphere Studio.”
Source: IBM