Mainsoft: Talking to MOSS is a WebSphere Imperative

We all know that SharePoint (MOSS) is being heavily used for basic document management and collaboration services. We also know that the software is often deployed in an environment where it must be integrated with other technologies like content management systems and portals — why else would so many Enterprise CMS vendors cooking-up nifty connectors and building repository bridges?

The message is clear: Knowledge workers the world over are putting a lot of digital stuff into MOSS and if your tech can't talk MOSS, you're liable to be left out in the cold.

Mainsoft is a solution provider who offers technologies that help bridge the divide between .NET and Java. They believe, and rightly so, that we live in a heterogeneous technology world and that most organizations need to have intelligent ways to integrate technologies and datastores. They specifically recognize the impact of MOSS and the growing need to tied MOSS repositories in with such prevalent stars as IBM's WebSphere Portal.

CMSWire had an opportunity to sit down with Mainsoft staff and discuss some of the current IT challenges, and how their product offering addresses some important needs.

The Story of Mainsoft

Established in 1993, Mainsoft originally started integrating C++ into Unix and Linux environments. Located in California, they have been an Advanced IBM Partner since 2004.

They are known for their .NET to Java interoperability and their vision to move towards Open Systems while helping organizations preserve existing Microsoft-oriented IT investments.

In 2002 they started developing solutions to integrate .NET applications in Java solutions. According to the company, they spent over US$ 14 mil. to develop the core compilation technology that’s used in their products today.

The Problem and The Challenge

The business problem is fairly straightforward, and not unfamiliar to most of us. How do organizations provide a single view of their information and streamline their business processes when they have any number of applications and systems in a mixture of technologies like .NET and Java, SharePoint and WebSphere?

Any solution must enable the bridging of disparate data silos and must provide single sign-on capability.

In the case of SharePoint, the problem is how to pull together all the silos of information often found in departments implementations, and make them available to the wider enterprise audience?

Mainsoft for WebSphere Portal

Mainsoft has created a product suite called Mainsoft for WebSphere Portal. This is a Visual Studio-based SDK that helps MS developers create applications that will run as JSR-168 portlets natively in WebSphere Portal — no Java knowledge required.

There are three components to the Suite:

Mainsoft Portal Edition
This product enables developers to create .NET applications in C# or VB.NET and compile them to run as portlets within WebSphere Portal. Developers also have access to WebSphere Portal Services when they are developing their applications to create truly integrated solutions.

Mainsoft SharePoint Federator for WebSphere Portal
The SharePoint Federator enables developers to easily incorporate SharePoint lists and document libraries into WebSphere Portal. There are several out of the box portlets that can be easily configured to connect to existing SharePoint lists. This includes single sign-on from WebSphere to SharePoint. In addition, composite applications can be developed that incorporate SharePoint data and then deloyed a native Java portlets in WebSphere Portal.

Mainsoft: Talking to MOSS is a WebSphere Imperative

\n\nWe all know that SharePoint (MOSS) is being heavily used for basic document management and collaboration services. We also know that the software is often deployed in an environment where it must be integrated with other technologies like content management systems and portals -- why else would so many Enterprise CMS vendors cooking-up nifty connectors and building repository bridges? \n\nThe message is clear: Knowledge workers the world over are putting a lot of digital stuff into MOSS and if your tech can't talk MOSS, you're liable to be left out in the cold.

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