BEA Systems Emphasizes Integration In WebLogic 8.1BEA Systems Emphasizes Integration In WebLogic 8.1

BEA Systems Inc. on Monday said it has begun shipping the latest version of its popular application server, WebLogic 8.1. The emphasis in the update is better integration of BEA's flagship product with the company's application-integration middleware, portal software, security layer, and management and development tools.

The integrated suite provides a better platform for developing, deploying, and managing enterprise applications, according to the company. "Companies are realizing that an application infrastructure is more important than any single application they're running," says Alfred Chuang, BEA's CEO and chairman. BEA is positioning WebLogic 8.1 as a foundation for developing Web services based on the Java 2 Enterprise Edition specifications.

Virgin Mobile USA uses WebLogic 6.1 to support its wireless services and plans to upgrade to WebLogic 8.1 in the first quarter of next year. CIO Mike Parks says BEA's platform is used by his company to deliver a service upgrade to Virgin Mobile customers every four to six weeks. "We're changing very rapidly," says Parks. WebLogic 8.1 will make Virgin Mobile's programmers more productive and ease the tasks associated with the company's frequent service updates, Parks says.