B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

30 B2B Integration — A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce
2.2.7. Middleware technologies
Middleware is a layer of software between the client and server
applications that provides a uniform 'conduit' for them to communicate
with one another. Middleware provides a platform for the integration of
applications (developed in different programming languages and installed
on different operating systems) and data sources (provided by different
vendors). Middleware can be classified into different categories that
include: transaction oriented middleware, message oriented middleware
(MOM), distributed objects and components-based application servers
and communications middleware.
2.2.8. Integration brokers
Integration brokers built on top of messaging middleware, known as
message brokers, provide intelligent translation and routing of messages
from the source to the target application. They enable content-based,
sequential and conditional routing of messages. They also provide a
message warehouse or repository for storing raw, unprocessed messages
for archiving and retrieval.
Companies will be able to achieve faster and reliable B2Bi with
integration brokers than with any other middleware solution.
Integration brokers provide adapters for application servers, packaged
applications such as CRM applications and SCM applications, legacy
applications and databases (see Figure 2.4). They support all open
standards and enable communication irrespective of the transportation
protocol. Integration brokers also impose a structure on the integration
development process, thereby reducing the cost of maintaining application
integration solutions.
Integration brokers are the middleware of extranets that link
applications and transactions not just across the enterprise but also
across business-to-business networks.
2.2.9. Internet security
In B2Bi, companies connect their internal systems to the Internet and
through that single pipe they can potentially lose everything. A B2B