Hybrid Integration: Oracle vs. IBM

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Hybrid Integration: Oracle vs. IBM Customer Perspectives on Simplifying Traditional and Cloud Integration

July 2015

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Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................. 2 Customer Perspectives on Services Integration Complexity.................................................................................... 3 Company Research Profiles..................................................................................................................................... 3 A Framework for Evaluating Service Integration ...................................................................................................4 Overview of Research Findings................................................................................................................................... 5 Services Integration Platform Comparison ............................................................................................................ 5 Cloud Integration Platforms Comparison ..............................................................................................................11 Conclusions and Other Considerations .................................................................................................................... 15

Executive Summary

A



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“Oracle ICS is a ‘game changer.’ Customers with a large on-premise foot print are transitioning into a more cloud-based model. Something like ICS allows them to do this in phases and do it at their own pace. It would be much harder in an IBM environment to move integrations from on-premises to cloud because they are different architectures and technologies.” Architect for Middleware Systems Integrator

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1

Introduction

W Figure 1. Hybrid Integration Platform

“The ability to deploy the same set of integration capabilities, either in the cloud or in a private cloud, is fundamental to enable flexibility.” Middleware Specialist with Leading Analyst Firm

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2

Customer Perspectives on Services Integration Complexity

T    

Company Research Profiles

Table 1. Companies/Industries Included in Primary Research Companies Represented Fortune 50 Global Systems Integrator Large Canadian Bank Brazilian Integration Services Provider Fortune 50 Global Manufacturer Middleware Systems Integrator LATAM/Mexico Systems Integrator Global Broadband Communications Equipment Supplier IT/DevOps Solutions Provider Fortune 50 Global Aviation Company

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3

A Framework for Evaluating Service Integration

Table 2. Service Integration Solution Evaluation Framework Service Integration Platform Comparison

A comparison of the service integration offerings from a suite and product perspective, including cloud integration and hybrid integration scenarios.

Platform Setup, Configuration Connectivity & Management Activities

A summary of the set-up and configuration activities for the various components of the services integration environment, including configuring and monitoring back-end adapters and setting up a common management console and governance model for managing the environment. The ideal, as in any complex IT system, is a “single pane of glass” management.

Business Implications Hybrid Integration Scenario

The solution offerings to support cloud and hybrid cloud integration and the impact on complexity, cost of ownership, and agility.

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5 4

Overview of Research Findings

T Services Integration Platform Comparison

Figure 2. Service Integration Platform Elements

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55

Figure 3. IBM Service Integration Platform Portfolio

“The IBM product line is quite confusing from a marketing point of view. In some cases the product line is overlapping and in others not just overlapping but purely duplicated.” Service Integration Architect at Large Canadian Bank

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6

Table 3. Basic Setup and Configuration Oracle

IBM

Activity

Effort

Skill Level (1–5, 5 highest)

Effort

Skill Level (1–5, 5 highest)

Comments

Basic Product Installation

4 hours

1

1 day (IB) 0.5 day (DPXI152)

2–3

Basic installation of both Oracle SOA Suite and IBM Integration Bus. IBM requires Integration Bus and DataPower for security, whereas Oracle has a “great applicationlevel security model with Oracle Web Services Manager (OWSM)—highly decoupled and works similarly across all product sets. OWSM is configurable at both Design time and Runtime. Prepackaged OWSM policies make the process simple.”

Product Configuration

4 hours

2

9 hours

3

For Oracle, product configuration is much easier to perform. Create a domain image that can be used to replicate environments quickly and easily. For IBM, configuration is required of two separate products. Even with certified MQ admin, it took some time to configure and get permissions correctly configured.

Configuring Adapters

1 hour

2–3

1 day

4

Oracle SOA Suite has easy-to-configure adapters for all major applications. Oracle adapters appear more robust than IBM’s, using less programming/scripting to configure, especially for advanced operations. There is no wizard with Integration Bus adapters in Eclipse IDE.

Configuring B2B Servers

2 hours

3

2 days

4

IBM requires a separate product from the core integration platform, most notably DataPower B2B Appliance XB62 (or Sterling B2B Integration).

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7

Figure 4. Oracle Service Integration Platform Portfolio

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8

“A full deployment of Oracle SOA Suite out of the box (especially 12c) provides a greater ability to realize service integration patterns and architectures. For IBM to realize a comparable stack requires more products.” Principal Architect at Global Systems Integrator

“Oracle has made a significant investment in improving all aspects of the architecture stack from development to runtime to the management layers of the architecture. Now all aspects of development— A2A, B2B, and Service Bus—have improved and integrated to drive significant improvement in developer productivity.” Director at IT/DevOps Solutions Provider

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TBD

Study participants cited that nearly 90% less effort is involved in configuring adapters with Oracle versus with IBM.

9

Table 4. Platform Impact on Manageability Oracle Activity

Setting Up Common Management Console

Setting Up Caching

IBM

Effort

Skill Level (1–5, 5 highest)

Effort

Skill Level (1–5, 5 highest)

Comments

0

1

n/a

n/a

Oracle Enterprise Manager installed with SOA Suite. IBM products have individual consoles that are relatively easy to set up, but no customers interviewed had a common management console, which would require Tivoli or another enterprise management system.

2

1 day

5

For Oracle, Coherence is inherent to a clustered environment for improved performance. OSB provides caching OOTB configurable via sbconsole. For IBM, it requires a separate product such as WebSphere eXtreme Scale or DataPower XC10 appliance. For Oracle, it is done through Enterprise Manager. “Endpoint changes is one of the great features.” For IBM, no more than 5 steps to change endpoint using DataPower X152. No config files like Oracle to change endpoint URI/URL at deployment time; it must change endpoint before deploy.

5 min (OSB)

ESB: Changing Endpoints in Real Time

5 min

1

5 min

2

Managing & Adjusting ESB Performance (Throttling Service Virtualization)

5 min

2

2 hours

3–4

Monitoring ESB Performance & Response Times