Managing business transactions across multiple applications is a common problem. For example, in telecommunications, service provisioning, revenue settlement and billing applications are handled by disparate systems, yet still need to be coordinated.

This is the problem Choreology is seeking to solve. Founded in June 2001 by a group of five former managers and developers from Hewlett-Packard’s Newcastle upon Tyne, England-based Arjuna labs, Choreology (‘the structure of dance’) is due for launch in September 2002.

The company says its software will significantly improve the management of business transactions that span multiple applications. It is based on the most advanced candidate for the Business Transaction Protocol (BTP) standard, which was recently adopted by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).

“If you look at a typical large scale enterprise, its software runs on a large number of systems, built over time using different technology,” argues Choreology CEO Alastair Green. “Each new wave of technology promises a single unifying environment. But it doesn’t [deliver].”

Cohesions will overcome that by acting as a coordinator for various applications. Unlike enterprise application integration (EAI) tools, says Green, Cohesions will not be “very invasive, very manipulative” and will not require a particular style of messaging. Nor will it require major re-working of existing applications. Instead, it will “choreograph” their interactions.

The next phase in Choreology’s development is to pilot the software with one or more financial institutions. “Pilot projects are where we expect the key benefits of our product to be proven,” says Green.

Although the company will be looking to set up a number of partnerships and has already done some work with web-services pioneer Bowstreet, its primary focus will be the end user market and in particular, financial services. Cohesions will give the company a lead in any possible new market for BTP software, but the incumbent business process management software vendors will not be far behind.