SAP drinks to Java 2 standard

Software giant embraces J2EE for web services

SAP has joined the ranks of Java supporters with its web services technology. The software giant launched its new technical infrastructure at its TechEd conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

At its heart is a Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server to allow functionality from its mySAP software to integrate with competitors' applications using emerging web services standards.

J2EE is a popular standard for web services development, supported by IBM, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett Packard, BEA and Oracle, but crucially not a part of Microsoft's rival .Net initiative.

SAP claims that its web application server will provide "connectivity" with .Net, but its decision to adopt J2EE for the mySAP Technology infrastructure is a blow for Microsoft, which says that 55 per cent of new SAP installations run on Windows.