Yes, legacy modernization might be about as un-sexy as you can get as far as IT practices go. But we know that these venerable IT assets are a reality of any serious operating enterprise, and making those mainframes and core systems work in today's architecture is still a very hot topic for discussion.
Our John Michelsen recently joined in a good discussion on the eBizQ Forum. Question posed by one of our favorite bloggers, Joe McKendrick: Are Web services protocols such as SOAP and REST and AJAX effective for building SOA off of mainframe, large systems or legacy environments? Or is message-oriented middleware more advisable?
Well, yes, and yes as John mentions... they better be effective at bringing those systems into a modern architecture, if you are using them. Many developers and architects can get quite dogmatic about SOA vs. REST, or how MOM solutions like ESBs are good or evil. It sounds like a blanket statement, but the longer we are in the business of aligning IT around business, the more ambivalent we must become about these distinctions.
Anyway I think the Q&As going on there are worth reading, and we are seeing a lot of the "usual suspects" in SOA punditry and integration expertise weighing in.
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