Integrating middleware software into open-system client/server systems

摘要

The Corporate Information Management (CIM) initiative formalizes the goals for information systems management within DOD. Four of the six goals CIM lists call for systems integration and data sharing. These goals will be difficult to accomplish because each service has unique requirements and multiple information systems supporting similar tasks (Clancy, 1994). The growing need for integration solutions has spawned a new software category called middleware. The capabilities of middleware hold great promise for increasing system functionality and rejuvenating legacy systems while decreasing development time. 'The future belongs to those with the tools and processes to turn mission-critical distributed data into knowledge and competitive assets (Barbagallo, 1994).' This research presents an analysis of and explores the current state of middleware software development tools. This research also presents the lessons learned from an application development project using a middleware tool.