So, instead of getting in a tizzy about the ESB debacle, may I suggest you read ZapThink’s recent whitepaper, “Design and Validate SOA in a Heterogeneous Environment?”

It’s written to walk you through designing your own SOA. And — this is my favorite part — it tells you how you can use the technology you already have on hand. According to the whitepaper, you can use:

• An integration server for SOA service externalization, core information mediation, management of information flow, registry/repository support, and connectors, adapters and APIs;
• An application server for SOA service externalization, service development, some core integration capabilities, registry/repository support, SOBA development and some process integration capabilities;
• and, gasp, an ESB! An ESB can be used for SOA messaging processing and management, service externalization, registry and repository support, some core integration capabilities, and connectors, adapters and APIs.

Who could’ve dared written such a revolutionary document, you might rightly ask? David Linthicum — that’s right, the same man who was practically burned at the stake for suggesting too many ESBs in a SOA might be a problem.

Yeh, I know. I’ve mentioned Linthicum a lot this week. My editors may taunt me, but to be fair, he does some good stuff on integration and SOA. And, in many cases, it’s free — which is unusual for good material.

Speaking of free – did I mention this whitepaper is free? You just have to register with ZapThink, which is also free.

Read more at: IT Business Edge