Deutsche Post brings own SOA Software to Market as Open Source Solution
Deutsche Post is to make its in-house software development SOPERA available to prospective user companies at the end of March for implementation of Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA). The SOA solution will be available under an open source license model by the end of 2007.
Bonn, 29 March 2007. By making SOPERA available, Deutsche Post is responding to the growing interest among other companies in its SOA platform. As a trendsetter in design and use of service-oriented architectures, the logistics operator already put a powerful technical SOA infrastructure solution into operation six years ago and continued to develop it further. SOPERA permits user companies simple technical provision and management of SOA services. The current version of the software can be had with immediate effect as freeware and will be available under an open source license model by the end of the year at the latest. This will create a stable framework for future use and development of the solution. The software will be provided via a service company independent of Deutsche Post, which will offer services and appropriate support.
“Our goal is to facilitate our customers’ entry into SOA, but without becoming a software supplier ourselves�, says Dr. Johannes Helbig, CIO of the Letters Division of Deutsche Post. Defining a suitable framework for the provision of the software and corresponding services to make operation of SOPERA also attractive to other companies was a major challenge. “So for us, offering the software under an open source license model and placing the services in the hands of experienced experts is a logical step�, adds Helbig. SOPERA also remains the strategic SOA platform for Deutsche Post. In the future, the company is hoping for additional impetus for its further development through other users.
SOPERA will be offered and supported by a service company of the same name. With Dr. Ricco Deutscher as future managing director, an experienced software entrepreneur and McKinsey technology expert is taking the lead and will be responsible for marketing of the services and support product. Deutscher sees good opportunities for the software: “The know-how from six years of successful SOA operation in a major corporation has gone into SOPERA. Other solutions must stand comparison with it.� From his perspective, apart from the quality of the solution, the open source license model, above all, speaks for SOPERA: “Through the disclosure of the source code, users can build and use their own solutions based on the software to meet their own needs� says Deutscher.
By providing SOPERA, Deutsche Post is once again emphasizing its role as a leading user and innovation driver in the SOA field. From the perspective of the logistics operator, powerful approaches such as service-oriented architectures play a central role in the further development of its portfolio. That applies in particular to added-value and dialogue services. “Flexible and modern architecture approaches allow us easier integration and thus more efficient cooperation with our customers. I regard that as a clear competitive advantage for us�, says Johannes Helbig about his vision.
The release of SOPERA is one building block in positioning Deutsche Post in the area of SOA: The logistics operator is an SOA user and not a vendor of SOA services or products, says CIO Helbig. Deutsche Post had responded to the growing demand from companies outside the Deutsche Post World Net Group for its SOA know-how in a similar fashion. Already at the end of last year, Deutsche Post had set the points for the switch of a number of its SOA experts to the independent IT service provider Senacor Technologies.
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