© Butler Direct Limited September 2001 Technology Infrastructure Stream Management Guide

FUTURES – THE ROLE OF XML

XML has the potential to substantially simplify the integration puzzle. By providing a common
format for passing data between applications, XML can act as a universal connector,
replacing the proprietary solutions that have predominated to date. It also enables the
application vendor to build an integration interface into their product, by implementing an
XML capability. This does not remove the need for middleware, since the XML data stream
must be routed, and may also be transformed to the appropriate format for the target
application. Also, there will always be applications that have not been XML-enabled that
need integrating, and so middleware will act as a bridge between these and XML-compliant
systems. The significant advantages offered by this approach can be summarized as follows:

XML offers a flexible interface for application integration, which is independent of both the
application itself and the middleware. This makes it much easier to dynamically re-wire an
integrated system, and should overcome the difficulties provided by upgrades to the
applications involved.

A common format for integration enables a single platform approach to middleware. It

should not be necessary to support multiple middleware products in a complex and
unstable tangle.

XML provides a plug-and-play approach to integration, with an open format for applying
business rules and transformations that does not require complex technical skills.

XML is well suited to the loosely-coupled style of integration that is necessary for
extending business processes outside the organization.

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By providing a common format for passing data between applications, XML can
act as a universal connector, replacing the proprietary solutions that have
predominated to date.

Role of XML in Integration

Even though legacy applications are not generally XML-enabled, the technology can still be
used to include them within an overall integration strategy, and can assist with the renovation
of the legacy system. For data-level integration, XML is a natural choice, since it is relatively
easy to present the legacy data as an XML data stream. In many cases, this type of solution
involves a data repository, which already contains metadata, and this can be directly
expressed as an XML schema or series of schemas. XML has the potential to offer a single
solution for both A2A and B2B integration. It can be described as supporting both A2A and
B2B.

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XML and Legacy Integration

For non-intrusive solutions, XML can be used as an intermediate format to express the data
stream from a legacy application. This has two advantages – if the data is destined to be
passed directly to another application, then using XML allows this source to plug and- play
with the rest of the integration framework. Secondly, if the data is to be displayed to a client,
then use of XML makes it easy for that data to be formatted for different devices. For legacy
re-engineering, the emphasis has been on creating components from the existing business
logic that can be integrated into a new application, based on an existing component standard.
Butler Group would argue that, at the very least, an XML interface should be built into the
overall application, to cater for process integration and to provide easy connectivity with the
rest of the organization’s infrastructure. Although there are many new technologies and
approaches to linking applications, what is certain is that the need for integration is not going
to go away. In a few years time, many companies will still be running host-based systems,
because they still do the job they were designed to do. And by that time, the first generation
of Web-based systems may also be classed as legacy. So given this requirement, it is
essential that companies develop a more intelligent approach to their integration
requirements.

There will be an increasing need to communicate with external partners, and to borrow a
term from the financial industry, Straight-Through-Processing (STP) will become the norm.
The STP model envisages a scenario where the initial request for a quote, or placing of an
order, generates a sequence of events that spreads right across the supply and fulfillment
chain, without the need for manual re-keying of data between separate systems. The new
generation of integration systems must provide both for internal A2A links, as well as
realizing this B2B vision. The impact of e-business, and specifically the need to integrate
applications with those of trading partners, has led to a change in software architecture.
Integration across company boundaries necessitates a loose-coupled approach, to which
XML-based technologies are ideally suited. A plug-and-play methodology is required for
integration that will support both internal and external solutions, and which is oriented around
the business process rather than offering a purely technical slant.

The Web services model will reinforce this change, as applications are constructed from
components distributed across the Internet. It also offers potential advantages for the plug-
and-play architecture, as software applications can expose an integration interface as a Web
service, underpinned by XML as a standard format for exchanging data.

Although it will be some time before this becomes a widespread reality, it should reduce the
complexity of the middleware required for integration.

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