BEA Adds Web 2.0 Features To Enterprise Portals

The Web 2.0 features will definitely be welcomed by end-users: People are quickly becoming accustomed to rich Web-based applications on the public Internet, and too often have to leave those behind when they come to work. But the new framework is about more than just adding an Ajax interface to legacy apps. The most important feature for IT is the ability to publish portlets, small applications made available as Web services using REST and WSRP. Though these are designed in part to complement AquaLogic Ensemble, the mashup platform that BEA announced last month, they can be integrated into anything that's able to consume a URL, for example a desktop application or a Web site outside the enterprise firewall. Andy Dornan NWC Technology Editor

BEA Systems launched new portal software this week aimed at both simplifying the development of Web 2.0 applications and integrating those applications with external applications.

The company's BEA WebLogic Portal 10 software adds a number of capabilities to help programmers create dynamic Web applications including Ajax enhancements that BEA said will ease the development of this software. BEA said WebLogic Portal 10 also makes it possible for developers to exchange portlets and portal services with Web applications that are running outside of the portal. This capability will help expand the scope of these applications to combine content from diverse sources and create faster tempo user experience, according to BEA.