Document-centric processing

One of the key features setting this architecture apart from the traditional EAI and SOA implementations is the idea of document centric processing. In short, we replace the traditional API- and RPC-style integration with exchange of documents.
Tradition
The tradition of integration is deeply rooted in the concept of API. I am […]

Integration Models

Integrating applications may have multiple and differing objectives. For instance, you may want to synchronize the data between disparate applications or provide the user community with a single view of multiple legacy systems that your organization collected over the years. Or you would like to do both.

Experience shows […]

Basic Integration Patterns

This appendix outlines a set of common EAI patterns and their related concepts.
The purpose of this appendix is to compile a set of common EAI patterns that will provide a basic pattern language for the purpose of this EAI architecture. We do not look at the patterns in detail; where necessary, this document refers […]

Integration Technologies

The following provides a brief overview of ‘integration technologies’. The purpose of it is two-fold. First, it shows that as integration architect, you do have choices as there is much more to integration than the EAI stacks and the WebServices standards. Second, it establishes a ‘technology’ language for a discussion of the integration architecture.

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Message Boxes: do you still need MOM?

Asynchronous, reliable message passing is one of the cornerstones of an integration infrastructure. Traditionally, asynchronous reliable transport has been provided by message-oriented middleware. Many EAI vendors started as MOM vendors. Simply put, it is difficult to imagine an EAI solution without MOM.
However, before you go and buy yourself MQ Series, TIBCO, or one of their […]


EAI Value Proposition

EAI Defined
In general, the computing term Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) denotes the plans, methods, and tools aimed at modernizing, consolidating, and coordinating the computer application in an enterprise(*[1]). This general term covers both the traditional integration technologies (point-to-point, custom developed batch processes, CORBA, database replication, etc.) as well as the new ones (brokering, […]

SOI: marrying EAI and SOA

How do you apply SOA ideas in the EAI world? the following is an outline of Service-oriented Integration architecture: an EAI based on SOA concepts. In order to marry the two, we’ll borrow some SOA concepts, we’ll reject some of them and finally we’ll add a few extensions […]

Integration Functions (or Integration Stack defined)

This article lists the core functions of an EAI platform. See EAI Convergence for an example of actual stacks from TIBCO and IBM.
The integration platform functions and the core integration services enable the integration platform to play the role of an active intermediary between the transport-connected services. The platform functions and core integration services constitute […]

EAI Convergence: IBM WBI & TIBCO

This paper briefly compares Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) suites from two leading vendors: IBM and TIBCO. This comparison leads to an observation that the products in the EAI space converge; the products on the lower levels become commoditized while the innovation concentrates on the higher stack levels. Similarities extend beyond the […]

Bus or Broker?

You may not be aware of it, but when you’ve built your integration solution, you’ve made a choice between a broker model and a bus model. Or you mixed the two.
This article looks at both models and identifies the repercussions of this choice.
Why do I even care: the one-sentence intro to EAI

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