All Contents © 2006 Burton Group. All rights reserved.

Burton Group Take 5!Debunking ESBs Peter Lacey, Senior ConsultantNovember 10, 2006

2

Quiz: What is an enterprise service bus?

A. Whatever an ESB vendor wants it to be

B. Mostly marketing

C. Largely hype

D. Useful, but non-essential part of your SOA infrastructure

E. All of the above

Answer:

E. All of the above

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

3

Definition: Integration middleware (the latest incarnation of EAI)

• Service platform• Simple and composite services• Legacy integration via application and protocol adapters

• Supports XML messaging over multiple protocols• SOAP, HTTP, MOM, sometimes others• Request/response, queued, pub/sub; synch/asynch; reliable messaging

• Mediation services• Message routing, filtering, and transformation• Protocol brokering

• May be deployed in a distributed fashion – not hub and spoke• May offer many advanced features and SOA-awareness

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

4

ESB Products Come in Three Flavors1. SOAP-enabled, proprietary MOM-based, heavyweight integration brokers

• TIBCO BusinessWorks, IBM WebSphere Message Broker

2. Native-SOAP, proprietary MOM-based, lightweight integration brokers• Sonic ESB, Fiorano ESB

3. Native SOAP, MOM-capable, integration suites• BEA AquaLogic, IBM WebSphere ESB, Oracle ESB• Cape Clear ESB, Iona Artix• Open Source Mule, Apache Service Mix, Celtix

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

5

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

Vendor Hype

• An ESB is the single most important component of your SOA infrastructure – you must pick one for your SOA infrastructure

• All messages must flow through the ESB to get the benefits of SOA

Debunking the Hype

• ESBs are optional components of your SOA infrastructure• A periphery component, not a central component – useful for legacy integration• Most organizations will have multiple ESBs

• All messages should be mediated, but an ESB makes a poor intermediary

6

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

Reality

• Better mediation systems:• XML gateway appliances (some offer legacy integration too)• SOA management systems

• The legacy integration capabilities of ESBs are not comprehensive

• Proprietary MOM-based ESBs are, well, proprietary• Advanced messaging will soon be part of the SOA fabric

• Reliability, events, asynchronicity, etc.

7

Burton Group Take 5: Debunking ESBs

Should you invest in an ESB?

• ESBs are ideal for service-enabling legacy applications• But XML gateways are catching up• Deploy ESBs at the edges to encapsulate legacy systems

• If advanced messaging is absolutely required today

Should you make an ESB central to your SOA infrastructure?

• No. ESBs are about integration. Integration is about bridging application silos. SOA is about breaking them down

• SOA, by definition, requires a platform-independent mindset. Too much reliance on a single vendor solution will hurt your SOA initiative.

8

Burton Group References

• Enterprise Service Bus: EAI in Transition • Web Service Management: Townsman of a Stiller

Town• Web Services Security: A Plethora of Products• Service Oriented Architecture Infrastructure, Technical

Position