The term Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) has generated a lot of curiosity among business owners and IT stakeholders. Though the term has been present for quite some time now, confusion over its purpose of existence still prevails.

To move further, we need to first understand the concept of enterprise application integration (EAI). In simple terms, EAI is an approach for interconnecting all the disparate applications present in an enterprise IT environment. The concept has assumed importance over the years, as businesses have begun to utilize Information Technology extensively for carrying day to day operations.

Some of the approaches that have been used to bring about integration across the enterprise’s IT architecture include Point to Point integration, Hub and Spoke integration and the Enterprise Service Bus framework, among others. In this post, I intend to specifically speak about, and offer a comparison of these approaches.

In a Point to Point integration approach, all individual applications are linked using special ‘adapters’. The number of integration links is exponentially proportional to the number of applications present in the Architecture. To deploy new applications or modify existing ones, the entire system is affected.

In a Hub and Spoke Architecture, applications are connected with each other through a centralized ‘hub’. ‘Spokes’ provide the required connectivity between the Hub and the applications.

The major risk in a Hub and Spoke Architecture is the extreme dependence on the hub. If the centralized hub fails, operations come to a halt.

Krawler Enterprise Service Bus offers distinct advantages as compared to the Hub and Spoke & Point to Point architectures.

Enterprise Service Bus is an integral part of the SOA Framework. It uses an open standards based common messaging protocol for enabling enterprise wide integration. There are many definitions of ESB available across the web and literature. Here, I present some of the basic characteristics:

So what exactly does the ESB do? At the basic level, the enterprise service bus primarily performs the following functions:

Routing - Selecting a network path for delivering messages.

Invocation – Making a request or invoking responses from service/application producers and consumers, and

Mediation – Communicating with all resources and translate message, protocols, and data in required format.

Difference between Krawler ESB and other EAI approaches:

The enterprise information architecture consists of bundles of applications operating on heterogeneous platforms. There has been a rapid rise in the development of innovative point solutions for every unique business need.The flip side or challenge, as we like to put it, is figuring out how these applications will talk to each other and, most importantly, operate within the existing IT infrastructure.

Every time a new challenge is faced, business users need an immediate solution. IT system owners then spend a substantial amount of time and resources to scout for applications that are compatible with their existing infrastructure.

But what if you can leverage on your prevailing applications to address as many business challenges as possible? How you would welcome an architecture solution that offers reusability, adaptability, flexibility and agility – all together?

Krawler Service Oriented Architecture provides answers to all the above apprehensions and many more!! Let us first briefly visit the evolution of Enterprise Information Architecture, before moving further.

The evolution of the enterprise information architecture

In a SOA framework, the concept of an ‘application’ is replaced by ‘service’. A Service is a basic component of the SOA framework that performs a defined task. For example, if the task to be performed is inventory checking, then the concerned service is Inventory Service.

Each service is separated from the business logic and the underlying application or technology.

For example, an Accounting application is generally tied with an ERP system. If SCM solution wants to use it, it will be difficult. In SOA, the accounting application is viewed as an ‘accounting service’ wherein the accounting logic and supporting technology is separated from the platform. Having said that accounting service can be used anytime, anywhere within the SOA based enterprise framework.

Krawler SOA is an open standards based framework that enables service consumers and service producers to seamlessly interact with each other without worrying about the underlying technology, application or platform.

The prime concern of managers is keeping a check on overall employee workplace performance. With decreased workplace regulations and the overall workplace culture culminating to more informal work processes; it becomes increasingly difficult for managers to monitor employee performance on a piecemeal basis. Add to this, the virtual workspace in which the companies operate and you arrive at an organizational structure which is characterized by overburdened managers struggling with dispersed information about their employees, which sometimes crosses even international boundaries.
As a result of pitfalls occurring due to the absence of a direct reporting relationship between a manager and his employees, e-performance appraisal which provides a single interface for managers and their respective employees to interact with each other is widely gaining traction.
e performance appraisal aids in goals setting process by making it more transparent, accessible and fast. It empowers managers to set & assign goals which truly contribute to an organization’s success in long term, instead of assigning bits and pieces of work here and there. Once goals are assigned to an employee; it seamlessly tracks employee goal status at any point of time through system mediated automated mechanisms.
It provides a 360 degree view of employee performance by bringing goals and competencies together as a part of appraisal process. Competencies are skill sets that form baseline of the desired level of work performance; these are derived by the organization’s notion of skills, which have become rather necessary to attain purported strategic objectives. Managers can further evaluate individual employees based on the goals or KRA’s and competencies which are mapped to their individual job profiles.
Thus there is no “one size fits all” story inherent in the performance appraisal process; instead the process becomes more customized to individual job profiles and responsive to organization needs by tracking employee performance on a regular basis, bringing out the best performers, improving the average and shunning the worst.
This gives entirely a new dimension to the traditional measure of performance tracking of employees as it makes workforce performance appraisal a meaningful, ongoing strategic process rather than being relegated to a transactional, annual exercise.
Conclusion:
Organizations now live in a world where they have to be much more concerned with competing on the basis of their brainware rather than hardware. How they manage talent is something that will make a profound difference in their success. A more sophisticated use of performance metrics thus seems essential in establishing a clear link between employee performance and its impact on corporate performance.