EAI or B2Bi?
Until recently, providers of B2Bi technology were a distinct group from those offering EAI technology. However, vendors recognize the clear market demand for integration servers with B2Bi capabilities, and are ramping up to provide capabilities for end-to-end integration,i.e., integration of systems both within and outside the firewall. For instance, webMethods' acquisition of Active Software has positioned it to provide both EAI and B2Bi. Taking yet another route, some EAI vendors are acquiring XML solution providers to enhance or develop B2Bi solutions, such as Vitria's acquisition of XML Solutions. It's quite clear, however, that the goal is to provide organizations a common framework and a common set of tools with which to address both internal and external integration requirements.
For prospective buyers, the question often boils down to this: EAI or B2Bi?
We've seen many organizations that sought to capitalize on B2B opportunities and took an "outside-in" approach to application integration: prioritizing integration with external systems, while failing to address the integration issues within their own infrastructures. The fact is that the lack of control or understanding of these external systems can result in far greater pain in the long run,leading to longer implementation cycles and increased cost of ownership, while also further complicating the integration issues. In many instances, taking the outside-in approach forced these companies to re-engineer their processes, thus extending the timeline for deployment and increasing the time to benefit, not to mention the impact this approach had on IT budgets.
Instead, Doculabs recommends that organizations take an "inside-out" approach to integration: First, focus on integration of internal systems and applications, defining and institutionalizing your business processes. With internal integration issues resolved, you'll be far better positioned to integrate your infrastructure with external constituencies. This inside-out approach lets an organization execute its integration strategy in phases that make business sense and can greatly reduce the complexity and time associated with integration initiatives.