Service-oriented architecture (SOA) can be done with a minimum of J2EE and maximum of XML processing using enterprise service bus (ESB) hardware , says T.N. Subramaniam, director of technology, RouteOne LLC.

RouteOne, which is a joint venture by the major auto manufacturers providing Web services-based car loan processing for their dealerships, is also the poster child for IBM positioning of its DataPower XML processing appliance as an ESB. Using the IBM DataPower box to speed the XML processing, Subramaniam said he is transitioning from an aging enterprise application integration (EAI) system to SOA doing XML processing and as little J2EE as possible.

The five-year-old company's systems take the basic credit application information for a car buyer, validate it and apply business rules to it, then messaging middleware sends the information to lenders. The lenders process the application and send a response back to the dealership.