Windows Azure Solutions Series: Leading integrated companies to accelerate the pace of the market by working together in the cloud

Cast Iron BAE focuses on helping organizations connect non-cloud applications to internet-based (cloud) applications. When Microsoft released the Windows Azure™ platform, the cast Iron company began to enhance its cast Iron integration Solution (integrated solution) through the connectivity of the Windows Azure platform. Using service bus and access Control service, Cast Iron creates a connector within a day. Faster Time-to-market allows the Cast Iron to provide a timely solution for pressing needs. Its enhanced offerings help users to host applications in the cloud without worrying about collaborating with non-cloud data. With the Cast Iron integration Solution, companies can use application data, regardless of whether the data resides or expands workloads without worrying about the overload of the communication infrastructure.

Scene：
Cast Iron Bae, its slogan for "The World's first SaaS (software service) and converged into the company." "It provides an easy way to connect software-servicing (SaaS) or cloud applications to another, or another, non-cloud application. For example, with the Cast Iron integration Solution, an organization can connect Microsoft DYNAMICS®CRM Online data to a non cloud SAP financial application, Any change in the management data for the lonely relationship will be mapped to the financial system. The Cast iron helps the company save a maximum of 80% of the integrated expenses. Cast Iron is located in Mountain, California, for 100 employees.

Chandar Pattabhiram, vice president, cast Iron BAE product and channel marketing: through cast Iron cloud integration solution, users can get online faster on the Windows Azure platform, Rather than dwell on their own synergy.

"The difficulty of integration is a major factor in the reluctance of institutions to purchase the computing model of managed services," the survey found. Chandar Pattabhiram said. Vice President the vice president of product and channel marketing for the products and Channel Marketing for Cast Iron Bae. "Our mission is to help cloud users and providers overcome these difficulties so that they can deploy business solutions in the cloud or not in the cloud." ”

Solution:
In the middle of 2009, Cast Iron began working with Microsoft's Windows Azure™ team and demonstrated that Windows Azure applications can communicate with applications that run in virtually any environment, hosted or not cloud.  Windows Azure is a cloud service operating system that provides development, service hosting, and service management environments for Windows Azure platforms. Windows Azure provides developers on-demand computing and storage, through hosting, expanding, and managing Web applications through Microsoft Data centers on the Internet.

To create a high degree of collaboration, Cast Iron uses Windows Azure's service bus and Access Control service features. Using these services simplifies the effort to build applications and services that connect cloud and non cloud deployments.

Service buses are an Internet-level enterprise service bus that simplifies application connectivity on the Internet. Services registered with service bus can be found and accessed through any network topology. The Access Control Service provides a simple way of controlling web applications and services when integrated with standard authentication providers. Authorization decisions can be drawn from the application and placed in a set of rules that transform the incoming security declaration into a declaration that the application understands.

"We like service bus because it uses a non-exclusive interface to handle information queues in the cloud," he said. "Rishi Vaish, vice president of Cast Iron Bae project. "It provides an easy way to connect to the Windows Azure platform from behind any cloud or user's firewall." Without service buses and access control services, we have to create our own service bus infrastructure, which takes months. Our users also need to invest in similar development. With service bus and access control service, they can simply subscribe to these services and immediately connect to their various applications. ”

Cast Iron uses the Access Control service to ensure that only authorized users can access their service queues. With access control Service, Cast Iron can dispense with complex programming, which is often used to secure applications across organizational boundaries. With support for simple rules and declarative reporting patterns, Access Control Service rules can be configured easily and flexibly under different security requirements and different authentication management infrastructures.

1st Development
With Service bus and access control Service,cast Iron can be completed within a day, you can make the Cast Iron integration solution integrate Windows Azure platform connectivity. "Our aim is that we don't need to write any code for integration issues." "Vaish said. "By dragging and dropping controls, we can use service bus and access control service to increase the connectivity of the Windows Azure platform for existing cast Iron integration solution. It took us only one day to learn about these services, and another day to build Azure's connection capabilities. There is no need to write code. In addition, there is no need to maintain the infrastructure. ”

Service buses provide a common enterprise service Bus application model that addresses the stubborn issues that arise when these patterns are implemented across network, security, and organization boundaries at the internet level. "When users connect to an application at the back of another company's firewall, they typically need the IT department of these companies to open the service bus port," Vaish said. "With Service bus, you don't have to do this because the request comes from behind the firewall." ”

Usage scenarios:
With Service bus connectivity to the Windows Azure platform, the Cast Iron integration Solution offers extended integration options. A cloud that runs in the clouds can be safely and securely integrated into another cloud application. The second is that cloud-based applications can integrate with a non cloud application running behind a firewall without opening any firewall ports.

As an example of the latter, Cast Iron shows a Service bus that connects an Amazon EC2 application to an SAP application running behind a user's firewall. (Figure 1). Secure and reliable synchronization data does not require an open firewall port. Account updates from SAP Cast Iron intercepted, after which the data was placed in a dynamically generated queue. Another change in the polling queue for the cast iron run on Amazon EC2, and corresponding updates to the custom application. This use case is not programmed, it is implemented within a day.

Figure 1. Cast Iron shows connectivity between service bus and Access Control service for sap-to-amazon EC2

Advantages：

Through the service bus suddenly access control service, cast Iron can in a day to expand the cast Iron integration Solution function, easily defeated the market's competitors. With this solution, its users can quickly market the applications connected to the Windows Azure platform and extend them permanently.

Rishi Vaish, vice president of Cast Iron BAE Engineering: without service bus and access control service, we have to create our own service buses infrastructure, which takes months.

New integrated solutions to market faster
Cast Iron uses the service bus and access control service to enhance its cast Iron integration solution Cloud's data exchange capabilities in a single day without writing any code. "Without Service bus, we have to spend a few months to create an interface to the Windows Azure platform." "Vaish said. "Our users would have had to make the same investments, along with the development of information and communication infrastructure and middleware integration." ”

Sumit Kapoor, Cast Iron Bae Technology Alliance manager, added. "We can focus on publishing services rather than writing code for the integration interface." We can create sap-to-amazon EC2 solutions in one day. Now there are more and more cloud environments, both public and private, and the data is located in a non cloud infrastructure. With Service bus, we can connect to all of these environments. ”

Save time for user
With the Windows Azure platform connectivity enhanced cast Iron integration Solution, cast Iron can help its users, including SaaS providers and corporate IT departments, quickly move their applications to the Azure platform. "With the Cast Iron Cloud integration solution, users can get online faster on the Windows Azure platform without having to tangle with their own collaboration." "Pattabhiram said. "We can tell users, ' I if you're considering the Windows Azure platform for your next-generation applications, we've been able to provide connectivity." We can connect Windows Azure platform to your non-cloud applications, or your users ' non-cloud applications, or any cloud-based applications. ’”

Improved scalability
Since the cast Iron integration solution can use Service bus to connect to a wider range of applications on the Internet, users can permanently expand their infrastructure in order to change their requirements. "There is no need to worry about the overload of the communications infrastructure. "Vaish said. "Microsoft has handled it for us. It is extremely important for users who are not aware of the workload that has grown over time. We removed another obstacle to adopting the cloud solution. ”

This article translates from:

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000005931

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