Front-end integration - Digital Harbor's PiiE Express 2.0 leverages XML, Java, and a rich client to stitch together back-end apps at the desktop.(Software Review)(Product/Service Evaluation)

TRADITIONAL EAI DEPLOYMENTS are thorny, expensive endeavors that frequently go overbudget well before completion. For some projects, such as a call center scenario in which users typically are forced to navigate multiple screens and to tap numerous applications to accomplish a single task, taking a front-end approach to integration can reduce costs and complexity.

Joining the fray of competitors vying to smarten up application integration at the desktop is Digital Harbor with the release of its PiiE (Professional Interactive Information Environment) Express 2.0. PiiE (pronounced "pie") employs XML and a J2EE middleware server to facilitate data requests, pushing just-in-time data and alert services between its fat-client applications on the desktop and the back-end applications, data sources, and Web services that feed them.

With its visual …