Enterprise reference architecture — simplifying complexity with DataPower and all handlers

There are many IBM Redbooks on DataPower that can assist architects to leverage the appliance concept and benefits to portal solutions. Please check the IBM Redbooks' website for further information.

A2Z steering committee and architecture board decided to utilize DataPower as the realization mechanism for SOA. Along with IBM Broker, IBM Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), and IBM WebSphere Process Server (WPS), it would provide the entire functionality stack and needed agility and interoperability. For now, let's first describe how the "all handlers" feature was used in the A2Z transformation effort.

At a high level, it takes input from and provides output to all data and protocol types, provides the necessary mediation engine, and the agility and advantages of low maintenance of an appliance. It drives operational costs, and architecturally speaking, allows one to virtually implement any conceptual flow...