The majority of the systems that The Sombers Group has implemented over the years have involved heterogeneous systems – the cooperation in a common application of many computing systems manufactured by different companies. These systems included those from Tandem (now Compaq Himalaya), Digital (now Compaq Alpha), Stratus, IBM, HP, Sun, Unisys, and the entire range of Windows, OS/2, and Apple PCs.    

Back in the late 1980s, there was no common way to interconnect all of these platforms. However, Sombers had accumulated a great number of tools to do just that. In recognition of this interoperation problem, Sombers developed NetWeave, a middleware product to allow these systems to work together in common applications. NetWeave was one of the first middleware products to be introduced to the marketplace and is unique in its continuing use from the beginning of middleware to the present day. NetWeave for the first time allowed companies to integrate their operational data and business rules that were spread out over their diverse computer platforms into a seamless whole. What was created as a result was a common knowledge base available across the enterprise.

NetWeave is the most versatile, high performance middleware product on the market today. Not only is it the only product that supports both messaging and remote database access, but its wide range of supported platforms rivals that of any other middleware product.

NetWeave is focused on supporting today’s mission critical systems. As such, flexibility, maximum thruput, and reliability continue to be its major design criteria. NetWeave’s messaging services provide synchronous interactive messaging for fast response times, asynchronous message queuing for guaranteed delivery, and reliable broadcast for information dissemination. Using NetWeave’s database services, an application may access and update data stored either in remote legacy or relational data bases. NetWeave’s ancillary services include transaction protection, directory services, data conversion services, security services, and reliable file transfer.

NetWeave has been in active use worldwide for over a decade. Customers include Chevron, PPG, Kaiser Permanente, Dell, Apple, Tandem (now the NonStop Division of Compaq), Credit Agricole, Credit Lyonnais, Rabobank, Lloyd’s Bank, Bell Canada, U.S. Dept. of Defense, New Zealand Stock Exchange, the Hungarian Railway, the U.S. Navy, and Amtrak.