Infor makes SOA SaaSy

Infor is aiming to bring service oriented architecture (SOA) technology to its customers in the form of software as a service (SaaS).

The business software company is halfway through a six-year programme to develop its SOA capabilities. Speaking to silicon.com at the company's Inforum user conference in Las Vegas, Infor CTO, Bruce Gordon, said: "All of our new SOA products are designed to work as SaaS."

As the man in charge of software development at Infor, Gordon explained: "The world needs to operate in business networks. This allows the coexistence of business partners as networks."

The latest element in this SOA push is Infor MyDay, announced at Inforum, a web 2.0-style user interface that links up separate business information and databases using Infor Open SOA technology.

Users can access a range of information across their company and partners through the system, personalised to their role and responsibilities.

Gordon said that, in order to make business networks effective, organisations need to share information and resources as well as open up business process management systems.

Customers won't be charged to use MyDay but will have access as part of any maintenance agreement they have with Infor.

The next step in Infor's SOA route map is a peer-to-peer network architecture connecting partner companies which is planned for January.

Gordon said unlike platforms from the likes of SAP and Oracle - which he said work on the basis of there being a single controlling company that acts as a hub - Infor's will create a more equal working relationship across partner organisations.

Of future plans around SOA, Gordon said: "We're going to be delivering more and more components in this network."