Enterprise application integration using a component-based architecture

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Business-to-Business integration (B2B) leverage several key technologies including middleware and message brokers. However, an effective integration solution largely depends on the right combination of technologies that provide the glue between disparate applications. To build a technology infrastructure that can adapt to changes as the integration architecture evolves is crucial. The solution to the integration problem is forcing companies to think in distributed terms. In this paper, we show that a formula for successful deployment of an integrated organization is to have a technology infrastructure, consisting of a standard middleware and application server, that incorporates a distributed object infrastructure as well as platform to develop and integrate component-based applications. In particular, the paper evaluates the suitability of CORBA and EJBs as the enablers of EAI, and also the suitability of XML as a data definition and integration language.