Enterprises have various options to implement integration solutions. Some of them can be purchased as a pre-built product ready for installation or procured from an Integration Platform as a Service (PaaS). In contrast, others can be built from scratch if there are enough resources and funding available along with a desire to reinvent the wheel.  Most of these products have both pros and cons. In this blog post, I discuss open-source ways to design and develop enterprise integration solutions using integration technologies from Red Hat.

In an open-source way, you start designing the solution using an API-centric design approach. If you have been working in the integration space, you must have heard of the contract-first and/or code-first approach of building services. In this approach, you develop a contract for your service using open API specifications using an API designer tool. Once the specification is complete, you create a boilerplate code and implement your service. Imagine, you can deploy this service in a container platform and take advantage of its features for your services. Next, you secure the service using an API management platform and configure the policies for accessing and monitoring the service. If you wish, you can charge for the use of your service(s). I am sure, by this time, you might be thinking, do I have to do all these by myself, and the answer is no. Integration technologies from Red Hat can help you in developing this solution from end to end. The only thing you focus on is implementation logic for your service. 

You can adopt Red Hat’s integration products in two ways. You can purchase traditional software subscriptions that you install, manage, monitor, and operate either on your own infrastructure or public cloud, or you can take advantage of Red Hat Managed Integration. With Red Hat Managed Integration, Red Hat installs, manages, and monitors your environment, from the container platform up to your API management, messaging, and other services. Your environment will be ready within 48 hours after purchasing the subscription. It is that simple. Table 1 (below) provides a list of components that are included in the Red Hat Managed Integration offering. 

Table 1: Components of Red Hat Managed Integration with function and description

Components of Red Hat Managed Integration with function and description

The accompanying video also briefly talks about each of these components.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3nNah1rIBc[/embed]

Now you will ask yourself, why should you choose Red Hat products for developing an integration solution. The simple answer is because it is open source, you can see everything under the hood. There is no proprietary code, and you can install it in your choice of infrastructure. It supports cloud-native development, distributed integration solution, auto-scaling, self-healing, self-service, and automation.Additionally, it comes with over 200 connectors that you can use for developing the integration flow. Moreover, it comes with a browser-based IDE, your developers will be productive from day one and will not have to spend any time in configuring his/her development environment. It comes with AMQ Online, Messaging as a Service, that you can create a message broker with a few clicks and create queues and topics instantly. One of the components of Red Hat Integration is Fuse Online, which is a low code User Interface for developing simple integration flow. The purpose of providing Fuse Online is to enable Citizen Integrator/Analyst to build their integration flow if needed for their PoC and Pilot.The below diagram shows the steps you can take to design and develop an enterprise-ready integration flow using Red Hat Managed Integration. enterprise-ready integration flow

In summary, Enterprises now have an additional option to choose from when they have to select a platform for designing and developing their integration solution. You can reach out to Red Hat to find out more about it, and how can you start such an initiative in your enterprise.

 

Connect with Red Hat Services
Learn more about Red Hat Consulting
Learn more about Red Hat Training
Join the Red Hat Learning Community
Learn more about Red Hat Certification
Subscribe to the Training Newsletter
Follow Red Hat Services on Twitter
Follow Red Hat Open Innovation Labs on Twitter
Like Red Hat Services on Facebook
Watch Red Hat Training videos on YouTube
Understand the value of Red Hat Certified Professionals