10 Questions to Ask Before Selecting an Enterprise Service Bus

Business Transformation for Application Providers

Introduction

InterSystems regards the enterprise service bus (ESB) as a business transformation engine for application providers.

Why the emphasis on transformation? For many application providers meeting today’s customer demands will require a change in business model. Customers are looking for unified solutions instead of application portfolios from vendors. They want these solutions delivered on their device of choice, from desktop to mobile. Above all, these solutions must be focused on the user experience. Data, functionality, and insight must be available to the people who need it, in the form they want it, wherever they are.

To make this transformation, distinct development organizations will need to provide compatible software components. Silos separating business units will need to be broken down. Everyone — from developers to implementers — will have to understand how components can work together in order to provide powerful new solutions.

An ESB becomes an engine for business transformation when it can:

• Unify a portfolio of applications into a cohesive, mobile-enabled suite.
• Empower users with information, analysis, and insight at the point of action, and enable them to drive business processes based on that insight.
• Reduce the customer’s deployment time and costs by rapidly delivering applications that are interoperable, easy to configure, and scalable.

This Decision Guide provides guidelines for selecting a transformative ESB. It will help you to clearly define your selection criteria, including the important architectural components to consider, through a series of 10 key questions. Asking these questions as early in your initiative as possible will help your company save time and money, and reduce risk. This new approach to selecting and using an ESB can provide you with a platform for rapidly creating greater value for your customers and your business.