The primary focus of CTOs has already shifted from looking at the IT landscape as an accumulation of applications and systems with special connection needs to looking at it as an integration universe that is populated with applications. Moreover, because most large IT organizations are now committed to a "buy vs. build" philosophy, it is time for CTOs to ask, "Shouldn't we invest in integration experts?"

Establishing individual connections among applications results in a maze of connection points that is hard to manage, and it presents an inelegant diagram of the application integration environment. In a large company with product and geographic diversity, the connections can add up to hundreds, if not more, producing "technical spaghetti."

We at JiniServices are straightening out this tangle by using a message broker and Web services. Most enterprise application vendors offer direct connections (called adapters) with other important enterprise systems and provide toolkits to build other links. The use of a message broker allows us to more easily decouple replaced applications and connect them with new ones without disturbing the other side of the broker. When there are many older and/or homegrown applications in need of replacement at some time in the future, this is especially useful. Many vendors package middleware products of their own choosing with their products. Although this may be quite helpful for companies that do not have a middleware strategy, it tends to be less attractive for those that do. Imagine the nightmare of middleware for middleware itself and the chaos in the very space meant to add clarity and control.

At JiniServices, we are building "Centers of Expertise" for various foundational entities within software infrastructure. The intent is to accelerate the adoption of important best practices within the enterprise. We also look at patterns within the connections where reusable components powered by metadata can be used and the numbers of connectors can be decreased.

Who needs Integration Services and Why:

Integration of Large enterprise systems, demand considerable resources of time, financial investment, people, and training. There is a possibility that the applications of the future will evolve into more discrete processes or functional components. In that event, using independent and intelligent integration engines of future design built by JiniServices could be the gravity that holds the application universe together.