This document provides an evaluation framework for enterprise service buses (ESBs). It outlines key architectural considerations, required and optional ESB features, strategic criteria for evaluation, and categories for comparing ESB vendors. Some of the main comparison categories discussed are support for integration patterns, delivered features, governance support, development tools, performance, security, and business model openness. Examples are provided of mediators and features available in the WSO2 ESB.

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ESB Evaluation Framework
Chris Haddad
Technology evangelism, strategy, and roadmaps
Follow me @cobiacomm on Twitter
Read more about our ESB Story at
http://blog.cobia.net/cobiacomm/tag/esb/
© WSO2 2011. Not for redistribution. Commercial in Confidence.

2. ESB Evaluation Framework
Architecture
• Interoperability
• Abstraction
• Resource location virtualization
• Ability to scale and manage service
• Declarative policies and platform independent models
• Separation of concern
• Loose coupling

3. ESB Evaluation Framework
Required and optional Features
• Required features
• Routing
• Protocol bridging
• Message transformation
• Service agent hosting
• Optional features
• Resource adapters
• Composition
• Orchestration
• Reliable message delivery
• Event processing
• Transactional integrity
• Message Exchange Pattern (MEP) mediation
• Dynamic location and binding, load balancing
• Message validation
• Capability mediation
• Security mediation (federation)
• Tooling

4. ESB Evaluation Framework
Strategic Criteria
• Platform Fit
• Matches project requirements
• Environment fit
• Platform roadmap
• Performance and Cost
• Support

5. ESB Evaluation Framework

6. ESB Comparison Categories
• Supports Enterprise Integration Patterns
• Delivers all required ESB features
• Offers a complete and cohesive SOA Platform
• Facilitates SOA Governance practices
• Provides Graphical ESB Development Workbench
• Based on a composable architecture
• Cloud Integration platform offering (iPaaS)
• Cloud connectors and legacy adapters
• Performance
• Security and Identity Management
• Open Business Model

7. ESB Comparison Categories
Supports Enterprise Integration Patterns
• Messaging System
• Messaging Channels
• Message Construction
• Message Routing
• Message Transformation
• Messaging Endpoints

8. Example WSO2 ESB Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIP)

9. ESB Comparison Categories
Delivers all required ESB features
• Web services
• Message transformation
• Protocol mediation
• Content routing
• Service agent hosting

10. WSO2 ESB Mediators
WSO2 Mediators
• Sequence: invoke a named set of sequences
• Send /Event : send a message or event
• Callout: external blocking service invocation
• Filter: Filter a message with a given Xpath
• In/Out: predefined filter sequence
• Switch: conditionally execute mediators based on regex match
• XSLT / Smooks/ Xquery: message transformation
• Enrich: run specific actions
• DBLookup: augment message contents
• Route: content routing
• Clone / Iterate / Aggregate: message copy, splitting, and aggregation
• Cache: reduce back-end request load
• Validate: validate message content
• Rewrite: re-write URL
• Header: set header values
• Throttle: limit endpoint usage
• Log: Log a message
• DBReport: write to database
• Fault: post exception
• Drop: stop processing
• Enqueue / transaction: message queuing and transactions
• Entitlement: apply XACML policy
• OAuth: support OAuth authorization

11. ESB Comparison Categories
Offers a complete and cohesive SOA Platform
• Governance Registry
• Identity Management Services
• Message Broker
• Data and Application Service Hosting
• Business Activity Monitoring

12. ESB Comparison Categories
Facilitates SOA Governance practices
• Service Lifecycle management
• Create, deploy, version, deprecate, retire
• Service versioning
• Approval process
• Versioning scheme and tracking
• Promotion
• Checklists
• Environment deployment
• Run-time management
• Enforce security policies
• Comply with Service Level Agreements

13. ESB Comparison Categories
Provides Graphical ESB Development Workbench
http://wso2.com/products/developer-studio/

14. ESB Comparison Categories
Based on a composable architecture

15. ESB Comparison Categories
Cloud Integration platform offering (iPaaS)
• Cloud-Native
• On-demand self service
• Resource pooling
• Consumption model
• http://blog.cobia.net/cobiacomm/2012/05/30/cloud-native-paas-realizes-
cloud-characteristics/
• http://blog.cobia.net/cobiacomm/2012/05/31/cloud-native-paas-or-cloud-
washed-paas/
• ESB-as-a-Service
• Multi-tenant shared container
• http://wso2.com/whitepapers/cloud-native-advantage-multi-tenant-shared-
container-paas/

16. Cloud Platform Shared Middleware Services

17. ESB Comparison Categories
Cloud connectors and legacy adapters
• SalesForce.com
• Gmail
• PayPal
• Twitter
• Facebook
• SAP
• HL7
• JIRA
• SMS
RESTful APIs and API Management solve the adapter trap

18. ESB Comparison Categories
Performance
• Load Balancing and Failover built-in
• Pluggable models can include affinity based LB
• Full REST Support (XML and JSON)
• Especially used in Mobile environments
• Can bridge into SOAP or other enterprise systems
• Message Relay Mode and Relay Transport
• Excellent performance for 100% streaming
• Priority Execution, Cache and Throttling
• Manage workloads within the ESB as well as throttle backend
• Cache content locally if appropriate
• Service Chaining
• Asynchronous lightweight orchestration

19. Memory Usage at eBay
© WSO2 2011

20. ESB Comparison Categories
Security and Identity Management
• Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) based on interoperable security
model (XACML)
• Integration with Identity providers
• Flexible OAuth authorization model

21. ESB Comparison Categories
Open Business Model
• Openly published pricing
• Open License
• (i.e. 100% Apache License)
• Open product roadmap
• Open Development
• (e.g. Apache/WSO2 developer mailing lists, JIRA, architecture forum)
• Open Standards
• (e.g. Java SE, AMQP, W3C, OASIS, OpenID, Cloud Security Alliance)
• Open Architecture
• (e.g. Security, Governance, Messaging, Events, ESB, SOA, REST)
• Open Source
http://blog.cobia.net/cobiacomm/2012/03/14/value-openness/

22. Comparing ESB Vendors

23. Visionary Product Leadership - Gartner

24. ForresterWaveTM ESB Q2 2011 - Leader

25. Follow us:
Contact us:
http://twitter.com/#!/wso2
http://wso2.com/contact/

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