The modern XML Gateway appliance: from acceleration to integration an into the cloud

XML appliances, a core component of IT deployments, process XML-based information including SOAP and REST messages.   In the early 2000s, the first phase of XML appliances focused on providing security at the enterprise edge where traditional firewalls could not prevent against XML-based threats.  As XML adoption increased, accelerating XML traffic that is typically bloated and verbose became a requirement.  This is where companies such as Forum Systems pioneered the first XML appliance with acceleration, security, and threat mitigation functionality.  Forum Systems was granted a patent for XML Appliances in 2009 for its visionary work in XML security, acceleration and threat mitigation.

The second stage of XML Appliance evolution was to add significant support for the enterprise ecosystem; including transport protocol support - required for moving messages around; identity management support - required for interact with existing identity management solutions for authentication and authorization decisions; and monitoring and governance support - for enterprise-level management and monitoring of appliances and transaction flow.

Almost a decade later, XML appliances are now in the eye-of-the-storm again.  As enterprise build private clouds and off-load commodity functions to public clouds, XML appliance are serving a critical part in acting as an enterprise-to-cloud gateway.  Since its inception, XML appliances have been used for controlling and securing enterprise-to-SaaS interaction.  This XML Appliance function has now evolved  to controlling enterprise-to-IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) interaction.  For more about XML appliances see:

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