Enterprise application integration

Microsoft and TopTier have formed an alliance designed to facilitate integration of enterprise applications such as SAP, Siebel, PeopleSoft and Baan into Microsoft’s SharePoint Portal Server.

The agreement calls for TopTier's iViewServer Developer Edition to be included with the Microsoft Digital Dashboard Resource Kit 3.0 (scheduled for spring availability) and will enable developers to design, download and customize iViews to access data from enterprise applications and syndicated media sources, the companies say. These iViews can then be run as Web Parts in digital dashboard-enabled products such as Microsoft's forthcoming SharePoint Portal Server, giving users access to structured data from ERP, CRM and SCM applications.

The SharePoint Portal Server is being built on extensible Web Parts technology and is designed to integrate with the Microsoft Office and Windows environment. TopTier's iViewServer Developer Edition, which can be integrated into SharePoint Portal Server as Web Parts, provides users with constantly updated, prepackaged "answers" to business questions they face daily. When integrated into SharePoint Portal Server, the companies report, iViews enable users to streamline their decision-making process by offering quick access to detailed data