ORIGINA’S THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE SUPPORT OPTIMIZES AND SECURES YOUR LEGACY SYSTEMS – FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST OF PERPETUAL IBM UPGRADES
If you are like most App Connect Enterprise users, you’d love to get great on-demand support from a highly responsive team of IBM experts that can swiftly resolve any issue on any version and keep your IBM software stable, secure and compliant at all times.
But that kind of support is a thing of the past for a lot of OEM customers. IBM is quickly phasing out any support on many non-cloud versions of business-critical products –such as App Connect v10 and v11– and requiring that users buy its IMB Cloud Pak® solutions.
FAQ | APP CONNECT ENTERPRISE
WILL I NEED TO IMPLEMENT A CONTAINERIZATION STRATEGY?
If you go the upgrade route, yes. Upgrading App Connect Enterprise to v11 or v12 requires the purchase of IBM Cloud Pak for integration, with the proprietary IBM Cloud Pak layer running on top of Red Hat Open Shift.
You would need a containerization strategy underpinned by Red Hat Open Shift that would encompass a complete set of dev-ops processes supported by associated technologies that are not included in the IBM Cloud Pak, such as CICD pipelines, image management, etc.
We don’t need to tell you about the risk, impact and cost involved in transitioning business-critical products which sit deep in your architecture to cloud and service-based models. If you do choose to upgrade, you will need a solid containerization strategy in place.
HOW DOES THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE SUPPORT FIT IN?
Third-party software support is a cost-effective and Gartner recommended solution for companies that want to avoid non-critical updates while ensuring they get robust support for their existing versions.
80% of IT and procurement leaders who already use TPSM say they would recommend it to their peers.
TPSM allows you to maintain your current environment and avoid elaborate containerization strategies that may disrupt business-critical functions.
You get flexible support that optimizes the performance and uptime of your current versions. Not to mention saving hundreds of thousands on OEM upgrades you don’t need.
WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES OF ORIGINA TPSM?
Origina offers a particularly skillful brand of TPSM, with over 600 IBM support specialists that have a minimum of 15 years supporting and developing IBM products.
Our team doesn’t just keep your enterprise systems up and humming with 99% uptime. They get onboard with your business as a TPSM partner that understands your particular interoperability challenges and keeps a perpetual eye on your IBM products.
Origina frees up your teams and your budget so you can focus on your organization’s short-and long-term priorities. We tailor you a support solution that gives you:
- Optimized performance of your IBM estate – regardless of product versions
- Proactive reviews of license entitlements that keep you in front of audits
- Single-contact support with dedicated IBM product experts
- As much as 50% off your annual IBM spend
- Help managing legacy product installations
- Simplified IT that sheds superfluous software and processes
- Contractual flexibility and the freedom to do migrations or decommissions
BUT WHAT ABOUT IBM UPGRADES AND PATCHES?
It’s actually highly likely you don’t need upgrades – unless you are certain that a particular upgrade will bring a critical new feature that will truly add value to the way the organization utilizes the application. And given the maturity of enterprise software, that’s highly unlikely.
Chances are you’ve been running on old versions with no problem for a while. In fact, over 60% of Origina customers were 3 or more versions behind on upgrades when they came to us.
Origina actually enhances the security and operability of your existing IBM investments without requiring that you buy into multilayer Cloud Pak deals. Our approach is threefold:
PROTECT your existing IBM investments with preventative actions that address possible threats and vulnerabilities or potential misconfigurations.
EXTEND the longevity and lifecycle of your IBM estate with proactive health checks and workshops delivered by IBM software product and licensing experts.
ENHANCE the performance and functionality of your architecture by using scripts, open APIs, and API hooks to bring you custom feature enhancements that don’t infringe on vendor copyrights.
And if you do choose to upgrade your IBM products at any time, we don’t mind at all. We’re flexible and support you unconditionally – regardless of product, license or vendor contract.
WE KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT IBM APP CONNECT ENTERPRISE
Our Global IBM product experts have been working with App Connect for decades – some even contributed to its original code. We’ve followed it from its origins to the product it is now.
The first version was called MQSeries Integrator (MQSI for short) and was released in March 2000. The version number was 2.0 and was based on a product IBM and NEON (New Era of Networks) Inc product. The product was developed by IBM Software Labs based in Hursley, United Kingdom. The products development team at Hursley had strong links to the IBM messaging products (MQ) and CICS (mainframe transaction processing).
The product was added to the WebSphere family and re-branded WebSphere MQ Integrator in version 2.1. In the next major release, the version number was synchronized with the rest of the WebSphere family and jumped to version 5.0, and was renamed WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker. In this version, the development toolkit was redesigned to use Eclipse, and Web Services were added to the list of supported transport protocols.
In versions 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 the product was rebranded as WebSphere Message Broker (WMB). In each new release support was added for additional operating systems, supported databases, transports, and message formats. New built-in nodes extended the product’s reach and connectivity.
In April 2013 IBM announced that the WMB was being rebranded as IBM Integration Bus (IIB) and the core architecture was redesigned where the Brokers became Integration Nodes and the Execution Group runtime processes became Integration Servers.
Version 11 was released in March 2018 and was again rebranded as IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE). This version involved significant core architectural changes as IBM positioned the product for the Cloud. This version of the product decoupled the requirement for a MQ queue manager with each Integration Node and enabled Integration Servers to run as a standalone process (in containers). At this point, we saw the introduction and support for App Connect Enterprise Certified Containers and Cloud Pak for Integration (CP4I). The runtime configuration changed to include Helm charts and configuration using YAML files. Deployment of runtimes also moved to include “unzip and go” options. The management and operational interfaces also changed to include REST based APIs.
The latest version of the product is IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE) version 12.0.3.
Matt Turner
Channels & IT Transformation
app connect enterprise product versions
IBM App Connect Enterprise installs as a single package, but you need to choose the edition and operation mode. The capability and capacity provided varies according to the operation mode in which the App Connect Enterprise (ACE) integration servers are running. Your entitlement to run in a particular mode depends on the edition of the product that you have purchased.
APP CONNECT ENTERPRISE packages
IBM App Connect Enterprise installs as a single package, but you need to choose the edition and operation mode. The capability and capacity provided varies according to the operation mode in which the App Connect Enterprise (ACE) integration servers are running in. Your entitlement to run in a particular mode depends on the edition of the product that you have purchased.
The following modes are supported:
Advanced:
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All features are enabled and no restrictions or limits are imposed
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This mode is the default mode unless you have the Developer Edition
Nonproduction:
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All features are enabled and no functional limits are imposed, but you can use the product for evaluation, development, and test purposes only
Developer:
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All features are enabled, but you can use the product for evaluation, development, and test purposes only
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Developer Edition is limited to one message (transaction) per second at the message flow level
Standard:
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All features are enabled
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If you are using an integration node, you can associate only one integration server with it, but the number of message flows that you can deploy to it is unlimited
APP CONNECT ENTERPRISE DEPLOYMENT
When you purchase a license for IBM App Connect Enterprise, your license entitles you to install IBM MQ for use by App Connect Enterprise, within the terms of the license. IBM MQ must be downloaded and installed separately.
App Connect Enterprise v11 removed the requirement to have a dedicated MQ queue manager associated with the App Connect Enterprise integration node. This is now optional. It is required if there are certain types of App Connect Enterprise processing (this includes MQ transport, Aggregation, Two-Phase Commit).
app connect enterprise components
IBM App Connect Enterprise installs as:
- App Connect Enterprise Toolkit
- App Connect Enterprise Runtime (integration node and/or integration servers)
