BEA: Component software can end vendor lock-in

May the best function win.

BEA's micro services architecture (MSA) will level the playing field for software vendors, the company's chief executive Alfred Chuang told vnunet.com in an interview.

The middleware vendor unveiled its MSA architecture today at the BEA World conference in San Francisco.

MSA is designed to enable componentised applications that are better tailored towards a user's needs. Companies will also be able to swap out components between vendors.

A company could purchase an open source web server, for instance, and integrate a high availability component from BEA.

"If customers can lay the BEA Aqualogic pieces on top of an open source application server, I'll be a very happy guy. It just opened up my market in a very big way," said Chuang.

"People were stuck once they adopted an open source application server if the vendor does not supply that technology. This is where the standardisation happens: force implementation by the users."

BEA's Weblogic is one of the world best selling application servers, but the market is facing increasing competition from open source vendors.

JBoss and Sun Microsystems have claimed a large number of new users for their respective application server offerings in recent quarters.

Chuang does not see open source as a major competitor, however. "People ultimately want control. If you want the most control, you want the most integrated stack of technology. Then nothing beats BEA Weblogic," he said.