CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms

Rapid SOA access to CICS Transaction Server for z/OS and TXSeries for Multiplatforms

Service oriented architecture (SOA) is a business-centric IT architectural approach that supports integrating your business as linked, repeatable business tasks, or services. Because much of the world's data is processed using the qualities of service of proven transaction servers such as IBM CICS® Transaction Server and IBM TXSeries® for Multiplatforms, delivering access to these CICS applications using standards-based interfaces is a vital and core step in the journey to SOA.

IBM CICS Transaction Gateway has been proven over many years to provide highly flexible, security-rich and scalable access to CICS applications, requiring minimal changes to CICS systems and usually no changes to existing CICS applications. With IBM CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms, Version 7.0, you can use your CICS communications area (COMMAREA)-based and 3270-terminal based applications in comprehensive and sophisticated Java™ and Web services solutions hosted on IBM WebSphere® SOA Foundation server products such as IBM WebSphere Application Server, IBM WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (WebSphere ESB) and IBM WebSphere Process Server. Reusing these applications in mixed CICS and WebSphere workloads deliver real business value by supporting reuse, which gives your organization flexibility and helps reduce cost.

Java EE platform, standards-based composite applications
CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms supports the standard Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) Connector Architecture (JCA), Version 1.5 specification as its strategic interface. As a component of the Java EE specification, alongside other standard services, the JCA provides a standard programming interface to all enterprise information systems (EISs).

Using JCA offers two significant development advantages. First, it enables Java EE developers to program to a standard interface that is widely supported in education materials and software tools from IBM and non-IBM vendors. Second, JCA provides delegated management of connection pooling, transactional scope and security control, so that Java EE developers don't have to develop these capabilities within the application. Together, these benefits mean that better applications can be developed faster and more easily.

A number of complementary tools with the IBM software-development platform support CICS Transaction Gateway and JCA. Together these products can deliver a complete end-to-end IBM solution that can help minimize cost, risk and time to market of new applications.

Key enhancements in CICS Transaction Gateway for Multiplatforms, V7.0:

CICS Transaction Gateway Specified Operating Environment includes the following hardware and software products. New versions and releases of software in the Specified Operating Environment may be supported after General Availability.