Interoperability and Application Integration
By Ken Mewes
DH Brown

New interoperability standards based on open web technologies are emerging to solve application integration, application web enablement, and interoperability problems. These standards - the eXtensible Markup Language (XML), Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI), and the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) amongst others - are lowering the cost of and barriers to interoperability and application integration. The two leading application environments building on these standards are the Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE), and Microsoft .Net platforms for application and data integration with legacy environments.

While advanced application integration solutions based on open web technologies present major business opportunities, accelerated innovation has contributed to a proliferation of vendor claims and offerings, compounding the challenge of selecting and fashioning the optimum solution set. To achieve success, business requirements must be matched precisely to the unique capabilities and benefits of each of the potential solutions. To map offerings from leading suppliers to their priorities, as reflected in their own IT infrastructure and business performance metrics, end users need to consider the following areas of concern:

1. Detailed tradeoffs and assessments of the newer web-integration technologies including XML, UDDI and SOAP.
   
   
2. How J2EE and the Microsoft .Net platforms support these technologies. This will include analysis of J2EE- and .Net-specific application integration capabilities to integrate legacy data and applications.
   
   
3. In-depth analyses of the key web-based integration functionality.
   
   
4. Detailed descriptions of the current maturity of these technologies, including the state of XML schema development for specific business problems and applications and the current state of SOAP and UDDI. Manufacturing and supply-chain interoperability issues will be amongst those studied.
   
   
5. Enterprise customer experiences and lessons learned from rollouts - both the successes and the failures.

A disciplined and in-depth assessment of the architectures and potential solutions is essential. Using this approach, IT executives will be able to set clear and realistic goals and expectations, and select the solution that best meets their business objectives. Against the flood of media hype, end users require an accurate and in-depth assessment of XML, UDDI, and SOAP including J2EE and Microsoft .Net Solutions. To serve these needs, DHBA has initiated an intensive research effort with leading IT and application integration strategists as well as practitioners and vendors. It will cover the current state of these technologies, future evolution, vendor implementations and strategies, and customer success stories. For further information please contact Ken Mewes at kmewes@dhbrown.com.