BT MIDDLEWARE - SOFTWARE AS INFRASTRUCTURE

BT Middleware has been in production use since 1987. Every working day a user population of 60 000 people execute 25 million transactions on systems that generate in excess of 70% of BT's revenues. BT Middlewar e is installed on 32 production mainframe instances. BT Middleware pro vides both a development and run-time environment for applications tha t is controlled and manageable. Application standards can be enforced providing reuse of common code as well as common 'look and feel' user interfaces. The use of BT Middleware has allowed the rapid implementat ion of leading edge solutions to pressing business requirements and Mi ddleware is evolving to allow BT's operational support systems (OSS) t o participate seamlessly in complex distributed architectures. The fut ure for BT's OSS lies in their ability to integrate with new applicati ons developed on open systems platforms. BT Middleware has been evolvi ng to provide the required interconnection capabilities and now suppor ts numerous batch and on-line interfaces via strategic infrastructure products. This paper describes the major Middleware infrastructure com ponents developed and supported by BT's London Software Engineering Ce ntre that allow the company's huge investment in OSS to be exploited i n today's environment.