MESSAGE-level integration, all the RAGE with the advent of Web services, implies that the data passed between systems will be in the form of a message (a defined, data-driven TEXT format). An outbound message integration involves requesting data from a remote system in a message form (most likely a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) message). With an inbound integration, your system receives a request for data via a message and responds with a message.

Message-oriented integration lends itself to loose coupling between systems because the systems remain unaware of the object types that EXIST on the remote system. That type of loose coupling works well with applications that wish to COMMUNICATE over the Internet.

Message-level integration, all the rage with the advent of Web services, implies that the data passed between systems will be in the form of a message (a defined, data-driven text format). An outbound message integration involves requesting data from a remote system in a message form (most likely a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) message). With an inbound integration, your system receives a request for data via a message and responds with a message.

Message-oriented integration lends itself to loose coupling between systems because the systems remain unaware of the object types that exist on the remote system. That type of loose coupling works well with applications that wish to communicate over the Internet.