P2P in B2BI

The integration of applications (application-to-application integration, A2AI) within an enterprise has the advantage that the applications to be integrated are within once enterprise, hence, within once domain of control. Consequently hub-and-spoke architectures are deployed that provide a common infrastructure for integration, namely, the exchange of data between applications. The applications do not communicate directly, but through the hub-and-spoke architecture as an intermediary or "switchboard". In contrast, business-to-business integration (B2BI) relies on the direct exchange of messages between enterprises called peer-to-peer (P2P). The P2P approach has several challenges that come from the fact that there is no intermediary hub "between" the enterprises that acts as a switchboard providing central integration functionality. Therefore, the enterprises involved in B2BI have to provide the integration functionality themselves that the hub-and-spoke architecture performs centrally in A2AI. This paper outlines the requirements for P2P interaction between enterprises and the obstacles lying ahead. Solutions are discussed that implement B2BI functionality based on the P2P approach.