How ESB Ruined Integration Diagrams
posted by Anna Mar, July 28, 2011Before Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) came along integration diagrams were generally point to point. Point to point diagrams are messy and terrible — but at least they provide valuable information.
Where ESB Integration Diagrams Go Wrong
These days, integration diagrams often look like this:
The problem with this diagram is that data flow information is not captured. The diagram captures the fact that a bunch of systems talk to a bunch of systems — and that's about it.
A Better Alternative
The following diagram captures the flow of information and frequency of transfer.
Real life diagrams rarely line up as well as in this example. In fact, if you try to represent more than 20 integrations — the diagram often comes out looking like spaghetti. A integration chart is often preferable to a diagram.
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