DUBLIN, Ireland, and WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 11 -- IONA Technologies, a world leader in distributed service-oriented architecture (SOA) infrastructure solutions for performance-demanding IT environments, today released a major new version of its FUSE family of open source SOA products and updates to the FUSE community open.iona.com. The FUSE products are IONA’s tested and certified releases of leading SOA open source projects at the Apache Software Foundation. IONA selects specific releases from each project, which it tests, fully documents and distributes under the Apache License, complimented by 24x7 enterprise support, consulting and training for customers looking to deploy open source SOA technology in mission-critical business applications.

The release includes enhancements to each of the FUSE product offerings:

• FUSE ESB (based on Apache ServiceMix).

• FUSE Message Broker (based on Apache ActiveMQ).

• FUSE Services Framework (based on Apache CXF).

• FUSE Mediation Router (based on Apache Camel).

The new FUSE release also introduces FUSE HQ, a solution providing systems management and monitoring capabilities across all products in the FUSE family. FUSE HQ is based on Hyperic HQ Enterprise and takes advantage of the JMX-based reporting capabilities of the FUSE products to deliver advanced systems management and monitoring capabilities to administrators. FUSE HQ is available to IONA customers who subscribe for FUSE Support.

Key features of FUSE HQ include:

• A Web-based management console with autodiscovery of managed assets.

• Plug-in agents for all FUSE products.

• Global configuration of views, metrics, alerts with metrics for FUSE plus 60-plus technologies.

• Role-based access control and the ability to initiate “control actions.”

• Distributed monitoring with high availability.

IONA FUSE is designed for compatibility with an organization’s existing infrastructure, and components can be deployed together or independently and in conjunction with leading open source and commercial enterprise technologies, offering unrivalled flexibility. IONA FUSE supports and extends the approach to distributed SOA pioneered by the IONA Artix suite of commercially licensed SOA products.

“The rise in popularity of open source software within the enterprise has brought a more sophisticated appreciation for its strengths and weaknesses, and the relative maturity of various offerings,” said Stephen O’Grady, principal analyst for RedMonk. “As a result, it's becoming increasingly common to see enterprises pursue a hybrid strategy, employing closed and open source projects side by side, as complements to one another.”

IONA FUSE solutions are frequently deployed in conjunction with components of the IONA Artix Suite, including the Artix Registry/Repository, Artix Orchestration, Artix Data Services and Artix ESB. This combination of open source and commercially licensed solutions for SOA, often described as a “hybrid” deployment model, is a natural consequence of the Artix product suite’s technology-neutral, standards-based design, and the FUSE product family’s modular, standards-based design. The hybrid model delivers a broad, best-of-breed product offering that supports the leading open source and commercial offerings for SOA infrastructure requirements in a single solution.

“The latest set of enhancements to the FUSE family make it easier for our customers to confidently deploy open source technology for business-critical integration,” said Larry Alston, vice president and general manager of open source for IONA Technologies. “We will continue to meet customer requirements for professional open source with regular updates to our FUSE product line that deliver enhanced interoperability and ease of use features so customers can deploy open source technology today.”

IONA has also released major new content enhancements to its FUSE community Web site open.iona.com, including new content which presents SOA use cases and demonstrates Enterprise Integration Patterns using FUSE. Customers can quickly understand the capabilities of FUSE and identify integration projects that are best addressed by IONA’s Open Source product offerings.

Further product information is available at the FUSE community Web site at http://open.iona.com. The site also offers discussion forums, wikis, tutorials, sample applications and documentation designed to help users at all stages of their FUSE adoption.

About IONA

For more than a decade, IONA Technologies has been a world leader in delivering high-performance integration solutions for Global 2000 IT environments. IONA pioneered standards-based integration with its CORBA-based Orbix products. IONA’s Artix, an advanced SOA infrastructure suite enables customers to leverage service-oriented architecture to streamline and modernize IT environments. The FUSE family of open source distributed SOA infrastructure products allow customers to take advantage of the innovation and cost-effectiveness of Open Source software with complete enterprise support and technical services. IONA is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Mass., and offices worldwide. For additional information about IONA, visit www.iona.com.