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New to WebSphere business integration

Optimize the development and management of your business processes

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The IBM® WebSphere® application connectivity zone (formerly known as the WebSphere Business Integration zone) contains articles, tutorials, code samples, roadmaps, and access to many other resources. This extensive library can help business process designers and application developers create, enhance, and maintain their business applications. This page provides a brief introduction to the IBM WebSphere business integration family of products and describes resources available to help you learn more.

What is WebSphere business integration?

WebSphere business integration is a family of products that enables companies to define, create, merge, consolidate, and streamline business processes using applications that run on a service-oriented architected IT infrastructure. These products include design and development tools, runtime servers, monitoring tools, toolkits, and process templates. Like all WebSphere products, they are built on the J2EE standard-based WebSphere Application Server foundation.

WebSphere business integration products provide many of the services in the SOA Reference Architecture.

Figure 1. SOA Reference Architecture Figure 1. SOA Reference Architecture

For example:

  • WebSphere Integration Developer, an Eclipse-based IDE, provides development services, which you use to build and deploy standards-based business process applications.
  • WebSphere Process Server, built on WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) technologies, provides a comprehensive run time including process choreography that supports long and short running business processes, role-based human tasks and workflow, and features for dynamic and adaptive processes based on service-oriented architecture.
  • WebSphere Message Broker contributes to the connectivity services and near universal transformation for standards and non-standards data types. It enables connection to both standard and non-standards based applications and services.
  • WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, built on WebSphere Application Server, provides Web services connectivity, JMS messaging, and service oriented integration for standards-based applications.
  • WebSphere MQ provides business application services through integration of applications and Web services.
  • WebSphere Partner Gateway is a business-to-business gateway that enables companies to connect large groups of trading partners to their businesses and extend internal integration outside the enterprise.
  • WebSphere Service Registry and Repository is a centralized system that works within a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to manage, store, and access information about service metadata within an organization and across organizations.

For a more detailed description of this architecture, read the article, IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: Introducing the WebSphere Integration Reference Architecture.

What can I do with WebSphere business integration?

You use WebSphere business integration products to model, develop, manage, and monitor business process applications. You can automate processes involving people and heterogeneous systems, both inside and outside of the enterprise. You can optimize your business operations so that they are scalable, reliable, and efficient. The variety of products in this family provide extensive flexibility.

For example, let's walk through a potential business process scenario.

  1. First, you model your business process using WebSphere Business Modeler.
  2. Next, you develop the application components using Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software.
  3. Then, you configure the application components within the system using WebSphere Integration Developer.
  4. The application runs on WebSphere Process Server, which choreographs the various components.
  5. The various components might exchange messages using WebSphere MQ.
  6. You might expand the process to incorporate interaction with your business partners using WebSphere Partner Gateway.
  7. If your application needs to connect to Web services, you could use WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, which provides basic connectivity services. If your application needs more advanced services or the ability to connect to non-standard interfaces, then you could use WebSphere Message Broker instead.
  8. Your application might access back-end applications or technologies such as DB2® PeopleSoft, SAP®, or Siebel®, using WebSphere Adapters.
  9. Finally, you monitor the business application using WebSphere Business Monitor.

This is a simple example to give you an idea of how some of the products work together to provide the services of an integrated business process. Other WebSphere business integration products provide additional process management capabilities. To see all the products in this set, see WebSphere Business Process Management software and services.

How do I work with WebSphere business integration?

The way you work with WebSphere business integration depends upon your role. However, the SOA Reference Architecture includes a common repository and the tools are built on common frameworks to promote joint development, asset management, and collaboration among the team members as they develop, manage, and monitor the business process application.

For example:

  • A business analyst or process designer uses WebSphere Business Modeler to chart and simulate the existing and to-be business process definitions. He or she can export the process definition to a Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL) file, and then specify key performance indicators (KPIs) that should be used to monitor the process once it is in production.
  • The Software architect can import the WS-BPEL file into Rational Software Architect, where he or she creates an implementation model using UML.
  • J2EE or Java™ application programmers implement the business process application components in the architect's model using Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software.
  • Integration developers configure the process with new and existing applications and enable it for human interaction using WebSphere Integration Developer. This role is filled by someone who is somewhat technically oriented and thoroughly understands the process flow, but does not require Java skill.
  • Managers and business analysts use WebSphere Business Monitor to track and analyze your company's business processes. It includes a customizable dashboard, implemented as WebSphere Portal pages with scorecards, key performance indicators, and gauges.
  • System administrators use WebSphere MQ, WebSphere Application Server, and Tivoli Access Manager, (and possibly other tools) to manage the infrastructure, provide security, and optimize performance.

These are some examples of how various team members use WebSphere business integration products to help produce and manage business process applications. The flexible architecture enables a company to plug in the pieces and players that are right for its specific business needs.

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What are the WebSphere business integration system requirements?

What are the WebSphere business integration system requirements?

The system requirements for your business integration environment depend upon which of the products you select.

How can I learn more about WebSphere business integration?

WebSphere business integration resources

The WebSphere application connectivity zone on developerWorks WebSphere can help you get started with WebSphere business integration products. The zone includes in-depth technical resources to help you use WebSphere business integration products to integrate your company's data, applications, and business processes.

Pick from these learning sources to fit your learning style:

WebSphere business integration V6 resources

WebSphere Process Server

WebSphere Integration Developer

WebSphere Business Modeler and Monitor

WebSphere Message Broker

WebSphere Partner Gateway

WebSphere MQ

WebSphere ESB

WebSphere Service Registry and Repository

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