Analysts said IBM’s purchase of DataPower shows that IBM understands SOA is not only about software.

“IBM is clearly showing that software alone won’t solve the totality of SOA challenges,” said Ron Schmelzer senior analyst at ZapThink.

“With IBM’s entry into the network appliance space for SOA, we think this will turn up the heat on the other platform vendors such as BEA and Oracle to consider how they too will broaden their coverage of SOA beyond simply software and professional services,” Schmelzer said.

“DataPower’s product suite of integration, security, and performance appliances will fill various holes within IBM’s broad SOA offering,” said Jason Bloomberg, also a senior analyst at ZapThink.

Read more at: InfoWorld