|
I'm not sure EAI and Web services are mutually exclusive. EAI is a very
broad term that describes the sharing of information, application services
and processes between systems existing within the same enterprise. Web
services fall in the domain of EAI as both an enabling technology and set of
standards (e.g., UDDI, WSDL, SOAP). I discussed this in more detail when
responding to a previous question similar to this one. [Editor's note: See David's previous answers here.]
Indeed, Web services allow EAI architects to integrate many back-end systems
through the creation of loosely coupled composite applications. Distributed
objects perform a similar trick (albeit they are more tightly coupled). Web
services is a technology and set of standards existing in the application
service-oriented approach to EAI, which is only one of many approaches.
So, I would note argue that Web services are a preferred methodology over
traditional EAI, I would argue that it may take EAI and B2B application
integration to the next level.
|
