B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

9.1. Introduction
Integration Brokers 255
Traditionally, companies have used relatively flat architectures, such
as file transfers, APIs and RPCs to integrate internal and external
applications. These architectures utilize application specific adapters
and messaging middleware.
However, flat architectures are not suitable for B2Bi, which
requires a more robust, scalable and systematic implementation. Such
architectures, being quite rigid, lack the flexibility required in B2Bi.
The physical architecture for B2Bi is multi-tiered, which introduces an
integration broker between the applications (nodes) being integrated and
shields the individual nodes or end points from each other and the
actual integration services. Integration brokers, built primarily on
messaging middleware, provide an end-to-end integration platform
addressing the critical business components required to completely
automate business processes across the extended enterprise. They provide
wide-ranging, pre-built application adapters and bi-directional
connectivity to multiple applications, including mainframe applications.
Integration brokers enable data integration by allowing applications to
exchange information at the program level (application oriented
integration) or data level (data oriented integration).
An integration broker extracts data from the source node at the right
time, transforms the data, converts the schema and routes the data to
the target node. Here, the node can be an application, a program, or a
person — as defined in the business process workflow. Communication
between applications and an integration broker occurs mostly in the
form of messages. An integration broker also provides a repository for
archiving, searching and retrieving these messages.
Integration brokers do not replace traditional middleware as MOM,
RPC and distributed TP monitors. They are in fact built on top of
existing middleware technology, most often on messaging middleware.
Therefore, in this chapter we will focus on integration brokers built on
messaging middleware, also called message brokers. Message brokers
are also known as middleware for extranets.
A few leading vendors for integration brokers include — IBM
MQSeries Integrator; Extricity; BEA eLink; webMethods B2B Enterprise;
Mercator Enterprise Broker, WebBroker, CommerceBroker; NEON