Integration professionals have realized that point-to-point integration dramatically increases the complexity of building and maintaining corporate business processes. One manifestation of this is the increasing popularity of Service-Oriented Architectures. In order to achieve maximum benefit from SOAs, it is important to carefully consider architecture and design principles before choosing technology and going to work on practical examples.
In a properly factored design, integration appliances can greatly reduce cost while simplifying implementation and ongoing maintenance. Appliances can also help insulate companies from the inevitable changes common to any integration system by minimizing supporting infrastructure.
