Side By Side: EAI Servers And Application Servers

iPlanet Integration Server 2.1: This product, a component of iPlanet's Sun Open Net Environment Software Architecture, offers extensive mainframe-integration capabilities. The iPlanet Integration Server includes a publish/subscribe messaging layer, an XML-based transformation and data-mapping tool, a business-process management tool, and an analysis tool for monitoring process flows. The product also includes packaged adapters for enterprise applications, wizard-based adapter development kits, and connector APIs for adapters with sample connectors.

SeeBeyond's Business Integration Suite 4.5: SeeBeyond positions this product as an interenterprise and business-to-business integration platform, targeting business and technical users. The product has components for process management and integration, as well as pre-built adapter frameworks, including packaged adapters for many enterprise resource planning systems, legacy systems, and customer-relationship management and groupware applications. It also has a connector software development kit that lets programmers develop adapters in Java, C, C++, or Monk, a proprietary scripting language. Tibco's ActiveEnterprise 3.0: Tibco positions this offering as an end-to-end integration product, aimed at business users with some technical knowledge. The product is designed for enterprise application integration and B-to-B integration. It includes a message-broker component for performing data mappings and translations, a mechanism for transporting messages, process-management and workflow components, and a system-monitoring tool. ActiveEnterprise also offers packaged adapters for integration with major databases and line-of-business systems (SAP, Baan, PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards, and Oracle applications) and an adapter software development kit. Vitria's BusinessWare 3.1.5: Vitria aims its product's integration capabilities at technical users and its process-modeling capabilities at business users. BusinessWare is designed for enterprise application integration and B-to-B integration. It offers dozens of adapters for enterprise applications, as well as a connector developer kit, a publish/subscribe messaging layer, a transformation and data-mapping tool, a business-process management tool, and an analysis tool for monitoring process flows. WebMethods Integration Platform 4.6: With the acquisition of Active Software, webMethods now offers a full end-to-end integration product for both EAI and B-to-B integration. WebMethods positions the webMethods Enterprise platform as an interenterprise and B-to-B integration platform, geared toward the technical user. The product has robust integration capabilities, offering a broad set of packaged adapters for integrating with major ERP and CRM systems, message-oriented middleware, and all major databases. WRQ's Verastream 8.0: WRQ positions its integration platform as an interenterprise and legacy integration platform, aimed at technical users. The product includes adapters, a connector development kit, a process integrator, a data integrator, a component developer, and a proprietary Web-based management console. It offers packaged adapters for enterprise applications that include SAP, Baan, and Siebel Systems, though most of its adapters are for databases. Verastream has a proprietary development language for additional development or for creating custom adapters. It lacks out-of-the-box process management and transaction-coordination capabilities. Application Servers
BEA WebLogic Integration Server 2.0: BEA Systems, a leading provider of cross-platform middleware for enterprise applications, is known for its standards-based approach. BEA positions WebLogic Integration Server as a full-featured platform for delivering enterprise-class applications. BEA offers WebLogic Integration Server in combination with its BEA WebLogic Server to provide application integration, business-process management, and B-to-B-integration functionality. The WebLogic Integration Server is based on the J2EE Connector Architecture framework and XML-based transformation engine. IBM WebSphere Advanced Edition 4.0: IBM's application-server offering is WebSphere Advanced Edition 4.0. It's designed for EAI and B-to-B integration. WebSphere provides strong administration and deployment tools. This offering can be particularly appealing for companies that have standardized on and leveraged the WebSphere platform to develop their Java-based applications, since it can provide a common platform for development as well as integration. Another advantage is IBM's many partnerships with systems integrators, services businesses, and software vendors, all of which develop offerings that conform to the IBM platform. Microsoft .Net: This is Microsoft's comprehensive family of products for building and managing Web services and Internet applications. The .Net platform offers Microsoft-centric businesses many of the same advantages the Java 2 Enterprise Edition platform does for companies that have chosen the Java path. Microsoft provides numerous server modules, such as its Host Integration Server and BizTalk, which provide access to legacy systems and adapters for integration with enterprise applications and business-process management. Oracle's Oracle9i AS release 2: Oracle, best known for its relational database, ERP, and data-warehouse applications, has made extensive investments in application-server research and development. The company addresses the integration problem with its application-server suite, Oracle9i AS. The product's extended caching capabilities at the Web-server and database layers increase its scalability and performance, allowing it to support large volumes of users with fast response times. It features full J2EE support, high-speed caching, rapid application-development tools, and application integration. It's tightly integrated with the Oracle database and other Oracle enterprise applications. Through adapters, it provides connectivity to third-party packaged applications.