This paper explains what an enterprise service bus (ESB) is and does through a set of logical constructs referred to here as “the seven points of mediation.” Mediation and testing for interoperability at these seven key points of integration infrastructure is necessary to achieve the ultimate goals of service oriented architecture (SOA): reuse and agility.

This paper describes how an ESB is, in fact, a comprehensive infrastructure onto which services can delegate these points. It spotlights the first three points of mediation: transport, location, and semantics.