Is XML Appliance the Ultimate ESB?

In responce to IBM's recently announced I found this Blog of Interest which support my views on the ever evolving XML or SOA Appliance:

"So why is it significant? XML appliances that were previously used mostly as firewalls are morphing into full-blown ESB products that compete with software ESB offerings. DataPower XI50 has always provided a good set of ESB-like features; however its transformation capabilities were limited mostly to XSLT. Non-XML formats were supported but required a third-party tool for developing transformation logic. With this newly added transformation support, the product's feature set becomes more complete.

I think this trend will continue and, most likely, will accelerate. More and more SOA implementations are going to use appliances as their primary (and only) ESB product. The idea of off-loading all integration functionality into a low-maintenance, highly secure device that is also optimized for performance is extremely appealing to developers and IT departments. Implementing "proper" software-based ESBs involves complicated installation and configuration. Configuration of a self-contained device is a much easier task. It is also easier to find people with the necessary skills to support these devices; these people don't have to be developers with in-depth knowledge of Java EE or .NET (although some development skills are certainly desirable).

Another thing that is currently happening is that people begin to realize that SOA doesn't make IT infrastructure any simpler. On the contrary, SOA, being a distributed environment, introduces more complexity and require much more sophistication to manage it. XML appliances can help reduce this complexity. "

Is XML Appliance the Ultimate ESB?


I agree with this trend.  My view is that the XML or SOA Appliance will actually be an extension of the ESB (and a subset of the ESB functionality) in large SOA distributed environments.  However there may be some smaller SOA deployments that can run on SOA Appliances only.


Related Articles:

Building out SOA Networks - Centeralized vs. Distributed?

The Evolving SOA Platform moves to the Network - Gary E Smith

SOA Appliances, ESBs, and IC-BPMSs - Are they all one of the Same?



Lori MacVittie of F5 Networks adds her comments:

XML Appliance != ESB

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Gary E. Smith
SOA Network Architect - SOA in a Connected World