Step 8: Apply Technology

Many technologies are available, including application servers, distributed objects, and message brokers. The choice of technology will likely be a mix of products and vendors that, together, meet the needs of the application integration solution. It is very rare for a single vendor to be able to solve all problems not that that reality has ever kept vendors from making the claim that they can.

Technology selection is a difficult process, which requires a great deal of time and effort. Creating the criteria for technology and products, understanding available solutions, and then matching the criteria to those products is hardly a piece of cake. To be successful, this "marriage" of criteria and products often requires a pilot project to prove that the technology will work. The time it takes to select the right technologies could be as long as the actual development of the application integration solution. While this might seem daunting, consider the alternative picking the wrong technology for the problem domain. A bad choice practically ensures the failure of the application integration project.