Features and benefits
Rapid SOA access to CICS Transaction Server for z/OS and TX Series
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 on mainframes using the qualities of service of proven transaction servers such as IBM CICS® Transaction Server for z/OS, delivering access to these CICS applications using standards-based interfaces is a vital and core step in the journey to SOA.
With IBM CICS Transaction Gateway, V7.2, you can use your CICS communications area (COMMAREA)-based applications in comprehensive and sophisticated Java™ and Web services solutions hosted on 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 delivers 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 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.
Key enhancements for CICS Transaction Gateway V7.2
CICS® Transaction Gateway (CICS TG) for z/OS® V7.2 introduces a range of new capabilities, which include:
Enhancing high availability by improving the ability to distribute requests across multiple CICS servers. (z/OS only)
Extending CICS integration for key client runtime environments including remote C or .NET applications, and WebSphere® Application Server V7 and BEA WebLogic Server runtimes.
Simplifying system management, though the provision of new systems management interfaces providing the ability for integration with the CICS Explorer.
