Middleware development has garnered significant traction worldwide as it helps enterprises save billions of dollars by adequately interconnecting their diverse software modules. The middleware solution acts as an intermediary between two or more software components while rendering seamless communications and data transfers. In doing so, it solves complex business problems without having to replace, upgrade or re-architect their existing enterprise systems. In addition to supporting your time-tested legacy systems, middleware maintains perfect synchronization between diverse enterprise systems regardless of their heterogeneity.
Here, we shall talk about the important characteristics of middleware development as well as the must-have features in a middleware application.
Also, Read Middleware Application Development Using Apache Camel
What Is a Middleware Application?
Middleware, as already mentioned, is a specially designed software that bridges the gap between different software modules, applications, and distributed systems. It acts as a software glue that adequately integrates and interconnects a wide range of business applications despite their heterogeneous nature. The middleware application sits between the application layer and OS layer of two or more applications to facilitate seamless communication and data transfer between the given entities. At the same time, it provides a common software interface to simultaneously manage different applications while gaining complete control over the app components.
There are many different types of middleware applications including message-oriented middleware, transaction processing middleware, remote procedure call (RPC), and API. In the following section, we talk about the key features and characteristics of a middleware application.
Also, Read Middleware Development To Overcome Software Heterogeneity Challenges
Cloud Compatibility
Middleware development was initially meant for on-premise systems and legacy applications. However, as cloud computing grew in popularity, extending middleware support for cloud applications became more important. As of today, a majority of business applications are hosted on the cloud rather than being stored on the company’s databases. Therefore, while opting for middleware software development services, you must ensure that the middleware solution is cloud compatible. Even if you are currently using on-premise systems, cloud compatibility is an important factor to consider to future-proof your enterprise software infrastructure.
On-premise Support
Despite the growing popularity of cloud applications, several enterprises still cling to traditional on-premise systems due to various security concerns. All major middleware platforms are fully compatible with all sorts of on-premise applications. Nevertheless, it is crucial to carefully examine the on-premise software efficacy of the middleware platform to ensure it would address your potential business requirements.
Interoperability
Interoperability is a crucial aspect of middleware that we must take into account while opting for middleware development services. In addition to interconnecting disparate applications and software systems, a middleware must also provide an optimum degree of interoperability. As such, you must be able to centrally manage all your interconnected software modules through a unified user interface.
Ease of Development
From the development point of view, a middleware solution must include built-in APIs to support a wide range of software applications. With the availability of pluggable and ready-to-use APIs, it significantly reduces development time and effort while rendering perfect synchronization between connected software components. Besides, there are several middleware platforms that provide robust community support to alleviate development complexities and accelerate the development process.
You may also like to read Middleware Application Development and Its Types
Conclusion
As an increasing number of enterprises move toward digital transformation, the demand for middleware development services is growing substantially. According to the Industry Research Group, the global middleware market is likely to reach $3.58 billion by 2027. Besides, the availability of open-source software platforms like Apache Camel and MuleSoft ESB makes it incredibly easy to implement middleware solutions. Using these platforms, enterprises can build custom middleware applications to interconnect their diverse enterprise modules and legacy applications. More importantly, the use of open-source platforms for middleware software development does not incur any additional licensing costs. As a result, it significantly reduces the overall project costs since you only have to bear development costs.
Avail Our Middleware Development Services To Overcome Your Business Challenges
At Oodles, we provide end-to-end middleware development services to solve complex business problems by integrating disparate software modules and enterprise applications. Our development team uses agile methodologies to build a centralized software interface to effectively manage a wide range of software modules and components. We use open-source platforms like Apache Camel and MuleSoft ESB to build scalable middleware applications at competitive market rates. To learn more about our middleware application development services, write to us at [email protected].
