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by Diane Himes, MA Editorial Staff   | Abstract: | There are many ways to build, manage, and extend a service-oriented architecture, but they all require one thing: middleware. Here is a look at three types of SOA-enabling technologies. |
As increasing numbers of businesses look to modernize their IT infrastructures with service-oriented architectures (SOAs), the options for doing so also are expanding. For manufacturers, an SOA is envisioned as a way to streamline existing operational processes, or facilitate new, more efficient ways of conducting business, while giving the factory floor and the boardroom consistent, real-time access to data residing in disparate systems. While the uses of these new tools vary, one common denominator has emerged: they are helping manufacturers maximize ROI on existing IT and automation systems with a technical foundation that supports greater cost competitiveness, agility, and innovation. SOA middleware aims to overcome some of the shortcomings traditionally associated with middleware by enabling code reuse that can support composite application development, while creating a seamless setting for applications to communicate in ways that engender radical business process transformation. SOA middleware vendors, regardless of the attributes of their specific offerings, are promising environments that can be implemented incrementally, and that tie together a web of legacy systems and modern distributed applications. The chart below provides a top-level view of three categories of SOA middleware -- application platform suites (APS), enterprise application integration (EAI), and enterprise service bus (ESB) -- with two representative vendors in each. An APS is defined as a middleware environment offered in conjunction with an application server by well-established vendors. EAIs operate over centralized, "hub-and-spoke" architectures, while ESBs are based on Web services standards and are known for supporting multiple application frameworks. [Click to continue] |