Hi,
I’m new to the forum and trying to get started in learning (and using) webMethods.
I’ve been trying to familiarize myself with their product suite, but I don’t have a copy of any of their software, and trying to contact Software AG about it has been like pulling teeth. I even drove down to the webMethods headquarters in Fairfax but it the building was half-empty and they wouldn’t let me in…
Any suggestions?
Thanks
wmd
Why do you want to learn the software? What are you trying to do? WM has never provided developer copies of its products, but sales reps can nearly always provide an eval to a legitimate prospect.
How did you determine that the building was “half-empty” if you coudl not get inside?
Not sure this post is legit, sounds like a competitor troll to me.
Mark
How does wanting to learn more about a product (or series of products) make me a troll?
You got me on the building - you’re right, I honestly didn’t get a good enough look inside anywhere, considering it was all locked up. But I did drive down to HQ, and I’m only stating my perspective of what I saw.
What I would like to do is learn more about webMethods without being treated like some kind of jerk. I hope I’m not asking for too much here. I can download evals of other SOA products, and I find it a bit odd that I can’t with this product, so I thought I’d come here and ask about it.
Someone @ software AG finally got in touch with me yesterday, so maybe I’ll get what I’m looking for after our appointment this week.
OK, glad to hear you’re no troll just out to bash a product. That does happen hear from time to time and on similar sites. Sorry for jumping to that conclusion but the whole building half empty / wouldn’t let me in didn’t make sense.
At any rate, as an individual developer or consultant you can’t get a copy of WM products. You have to work for a company that is a customer or legit prospect or for a WM partner that has paid big bucks for access to software and training. The user community has (rightly) bashed that policy for years, but don’t look for it to change.
So, back to my question, what is motivating you to invest time in learning about WM products? Are there problems that you’re trying to solve for your employer? Are you interested in breaking into the ever-so-lucrative world of WM consulting?
Mark
Thanks Mark! It really was an odd experience @ their building. Granted, it was probably weird for me to just ‘go there’ in the first place, but I didn’t expect to see the reception area locked up either… I honestly didn’t know what to make of the experience, so I thought I’d start off by wondering out loud about it. I’m sorry if I sounded trollish, I probably could have formulated that question a little better…
A little about me: I currently work as a consultant doing integration work with BizTalk, which is a Microsoft product, and K2 Blackpearl which is a standalone product tightly integrated with Microsoft technologies. I’ve been working with the product for several years now, and as I enter the SOA consulting/products field, I’d like to diversify my knowledge to some of the other products out there.
As far as webMethods goes, I don’t know much about the product itself nor do I have any current clients who use it, but if it’s as lucrative as you imply I definitely want to learn more 
I’ve done a lot of different work but I find the integration/BPM/SOA field to be by far the most interesting and enjoyable areas thus far. I’m a big Erl reader and right now I’m dissecting the web service standards in an attempt to more closely embrace them (where i can) in my client solutions wherever possible.
It is my understanding, based on what I’ve read on the product website and by nosing around the forums here a little bit, that webMethods does seem to have an orientation closer to Erl’s writings a bit more than what I’m currently getting with the Microsoft product. I think this more than anything else is what compels me to invest the time and, depending on how tomorrow’s conversation goes, the monetary investment, to get more involved…well, that and the fact that I’m always interested in the potential for anything ‘lucrative’