A Huge Shift in Thinking

The movement toward verticalization is nothing new, but it is a new trend in the world of application integration. The challenge is the shift in thinking. Implementing vertical subsystems, in most cases, means implementing business applications not general-purpose application integration technology. This is a huge change from how traditional technology and service providers approached application integration, and it will require the technologist to work with the domain experts to create the ultimate solution. Moreover, we also need to understand that this is complex stuff that requires complete solutions. Simply providing connection into a "standards cloud" (e.g., ebXML) does not make a vertical subsystem. You must consider the behavior, as well the vertical business functions that must bind with vertical connectivity.

Today's application integration technology vendors are jumping on the vertical bandwagon, bundling service offerings or creating partnerships (perhaps an empty press release from time to time) as a means to sell an application integration product. Perhaps the approach should be to merge application integration with vertical needs and, ultimately, business applications. It's all about solving the ultimate business problem at the end of the day. The more value you bring to the solution, the more likely you are to produce a quick return on investment.