Sonic Software has added a collaboration server and database service to the new version of its service-oriented architecture (SOA) platform, built on top of the company's enterprise service bus (ESB) technology.

Sonic CTO Gordon Van Huizen said the company created the new products to round out the company's SOA Infrastructure 6.1, a suite that helps companies integrate disparate pieces of software and reuse assets to cut development costs. The suite leverages the Sonic's ESB, which lets administrators integrate applications.

The Collaboration Server is a business-to-business component that allows an administrator to manage partner interactions in an SOA, using B2B protocols and Web services standards, Van Huizen said. The product lets enterprises meet partner requirements without disrupting their operations.

In that capacity, the Collaboration Service performs a bit like a commerce server. Van Huizen said the distinction is that the internal view of the enterprise is aligned with Sonic's SOA model. Most commerce servers from integration vendors are their own isolated environments that require a lot of integration.

To make the Collaboration Service compliant with industry standards, Sonic also supports the two primary B2B protocols, ebXML (define) and RosettaNet, with support for BPEL (define) and Web services specifications to come.