webMethods adapters connect resources in your enterprise to the webMethods product suite and, through the suite, to each other. While Integration Server supports a variety of standards such as XML, adapters support proprietary protocols for accessing packaged applications such as SAP, Siebel, JD Edwards, Oracle Applications, and PeopleSoft; databases such as Oracle, SQL Server, Informix, Sybase, and DB2; and mission-critical programs on mainframes and UNIX systems. Adapters transform data from resource-specific format into the format used within the webMethods product suite, and vice versa. By using adapters you can incorporate resources into integration solutions without having to build complex custom code. Adapters run on Integration Server.

Adapters convey data from resources to the webMethods product suite. Adapters can either actively poll resources for new or changed data or passively receive new or changed data from resources. For example, the webMethods Adapter for JDBC can receive data from a database, transform it from the database-specific format into the webMethods format, and send the transformed data to services on Integration Server for further processing.

Adapters also convey data from the webMethods product suite to resources. For example, a JDBC Adapter service can receive data from an Integration Server service, transform it from webMethods format into the format required by the database, and insert it into the database.