SOA Redefining Role Of Middleware

Intel + Sarvego & Cisco’s AON foray has heightened the interest in the notion that Web services can and will rely on a service-oriented network backbone. More crowding is expected in XML networking space crowded with the Nortel’s & HP‘s among the possible next wave of entrants. Cisco’s foray was seen as commoditizing middleware. As Jason Bloomberg highlights that there’s a great big picture battle going on here about where the intelligence in a service-oriented architecture should lie. The race between the message-centric middleware model, & the intelligent network approach is on now. As XML devices, chip sets and network agents mature, they could take over the space traditionally occupied by integration software, eliminating the potential middleman. The integration becomes the byproduct of the architecture with right SOA. Application integration becomes the end goal moving beyond XML acceleration and Web services security. The level of complexity and detail that can be achieved with XML makes the new service-oriented network model a fundamentally different animal than the traditional TCP/IP network.
Intel’s plans is to incorporate Sarvega's XML functionality in its chips, enabling it to be placed in multiple devices along the network. Some say that the ultimate goal is to get to a "fire-and-forget" network model for Web services. Bloomberg’s view that this may become a "a middleware-free approach to integration" may look a far fetched but the direction is quite clear.