We are looking at implementing middleware & IBM IIB was in the mix. One of the issues I have is being able to quickly setup integrations using out of the box solutions to demonstrate the benefit to users. For example, being able to quickly setup an integration between two web services or a web service and a database. Has anyone successfully done this?

The other topical issue is IoT devices. We have a team that is investigating IoT solutions to monitor water heights in manholes. They are being driven to custom solutions when I believe we should be using off the shelf solutions. Is there a way to demonstrate this?

Tim, 

I've worked with IIB since the product was first available and branded as NEON.  IIB provides you with a rich set of enterprise application programming capabilities.  This include visual programming, IIB ESQL, Java, .Net, etc.  IIB is capable of handling any and all enterprise requirements.  The price for that power is complexity.  While a good IIB developer can go from to start to production ready in hours, it takes considerable time to become a good IIB developer.  The product has a steep learning curve.  

I recently led yet another IIB first time deployment.  The development team, without training, was able to complete an entire integration project (SAP to many external systems) in a few weeks.  They did, however, have my guidance and mentoring and they felt that made all of the difference.  

At this point, IIB v10 is already "back level".  It's replacement is IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE).  You want to take a look at ACE.  First of all, ACE has a rich palette of built-in IoT endpoints (Slack, Jira, etc.) .  These are coming to IIB, but they will be in ACE first.  Secondly, ACE has a high-level developer environment called "Designer".  This might be just what you're looking for.  

Finally, check out Node:RED, which is a high-level Cloud based integration toolkit with JavaScript as the programming language and also with a rich set of IoT endpoints.  

I love IIB, but it's going to take months to years to become a really good IIB developer.  More power in the long run, but not as quick a start as ACE or Node:RED.  

hth

Regards,

Glen Brumbaugh

Hi Tim,

As Glen states, IIB is a very rich and powerful product, that can take time to master. However, a lot of effort has been put into the product to make it easier to get started and to complete some common tasks. So integrating between web services or between a web service and a database is not very complex in general. Obviously, the devil's in the details.

But if you have the WSDL for both web services, and all you need to really do is integrate and probably transform the message between them, it should not be too hard of a job. Similarly, integrating with a web service and a database should be pretty straightfoward, as long as the database is a common one. A little more work maybe if it is not.

We provide what we call "Patterns" that are template based solutions for common integration problems. These allow you to basically just enter some basics, like point to a WSDL file, and it will build out the solution for you. Again, depending on exactly what you are trying to do, one of these might fit.

Executive IBM Cloud Middleware Connectivity & Integration Solution Architect
Member of the IBM Academy of Technology
North American IBM MQ Appliance Technical Leader
Open Group Certified Distinguished IT Specialist
IBM Certified SOA Solution Designer
IBM Certified Specialist/Solutions Expert - WebSphere MQ V6/V7
IBM Certified System Administrator/Solution Designer - WebSphere Message Broker V6/V7/V8
IBM Certified Solution Designer/System Administrator - IBM Integration Bus V9.0&a