MetaMatrix manages Web services data

More organizations consider Web services based on Extensible Markup Language to be an answer to many application integration problems. But the development of ways to manage Web service data has lagged.

MetaMatrix wants to address this problem with the company’s new Dimension 5 product.

Dimension 5 bridges existing data sources to the XML-based requirements of new applications. It accesses various databases and exposes the data as Web services.

Users would ideally apply Dimension 5 as a foundational technology while they develop Web services, said Craig Muzilla, senior vice president of marketing at MetaMatrix. The solution queries databases and transforms data so that Web services can access it. A predetermined vocabulary ensures accurate mapping between data and services.

Dimension 5’s data-modeling capabilities, built using the open-source Eclipse development platform, look at various data sources and create physical representations. The product then creates a schema for mapping the data to the Web service, Muzilla said.

The Transportation Command (Transcom) is using MetaMatrix’s solution to consolidate information technology systems, many of which are redundant, while ensuring that functionality does not decrease.

A Transcom IT source, who did not want to be identified, said the command is using the MetaMatrix tools to look at systems’ complementary capabilities. The command wants to combine those functions through Web services while retaining the look and feel of the previous applications.

The MetaMatrix modeling capabilities could also be a model for constructing applications, he said, because Transcom wants to avoid in-house coding for application development.

Dimension 5 is in beta development now and should be generally available in April. It will cost about $10,000 for a couple of data sources, Muzilla said.