The need for different systems to interact is a vital component of many organisations` corporate IT strategies, hence the escalating demand for effective, efficient middleware solutions.
Mauritz de Villiers, managing director of Bateleur Financial Solutions, says middleware is critical because it allows seamless integration between applications running on different platforms. "To achieve this goal, middleware needs to be sufficiently open to integrate virtually any application," he says.
Bateleur Financial Solutions is the sole local authorised distributor of CedAr Software, the UK`s largest provider of financial, e-procurement and performance management solutions to medium and large enterprises.
In response to market demand, CedAr recently developed its own middleware technology, CedAr Interface Broker (CIBR), which enables its financial and e-procurement systems to interface with corporate applications.
"CIBR has been developed to provide a solid product extension plan and a strong third-party application integration strategy," De Villiers says. "Effectively, it acts as the glue between different systems. It allows Bateleur and its customers to send and receive data between the CedAr range of software - Elevon2, e5, eFinancials and STEPs - and other vendors` products."
Developed using the Java 2 Enterprise Edition, CIBR is independent of application servers and operating systems. It leverages existing skill sets within product development and runs on all supported platforms.
The solution contains a set of listeners that understand various messaging protocols. "This means that when an XML message is received by a listener, it uses information contained in the message to decide which business handler should receive the message and hands it off accordingly.
"The business handler parses the XML, ensures the data is valid and the sender is genuine and then executes the business request - whether it is to create a requisition, purchase order or sales invoice," De Villiers explains.
A major benefit is that CIBR encourages and facilitates software re-use, resulting in better quality solutions, faster routes to market and increased return on investment. In addition, it provides significant advantages in terms of managing and supporting corporate IT infrastructures.
"This middleware delivers integration between applications which, in turn, drives greater flexibility throughout the enterprise," De Villiers points out.
"By interfacing back-office applications with Web services, CIBR delivers highly functional solutions that meet the demands of many corporates. And as it is based on standardised technology, customers save costs by re-using interface coding."
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