When you think of message-oriented middleware (assuming you might sometimes do so), products such as IBM's MQSeries, Talarian's SmartMQ and TIB/Rendezvous from TIBCO Software most likely will spring to mind.
Now, Sun has entered this market with Java Message Service (JMS), an add-on for the Java language. Already, a number of companies are building products to the draft specification, including Progress Software with Progress Sonic MQ, Softwired with iBus and BEA Systems with WebLogic.
Sun's new Java add-on will have an immediate impact on developers using Enterprise Java Beans. Until JMS, the only messaging available with Enterprise Java Beans was synchronous messaging, which is architecturally inefficient in many cases.
JMS will provide asynchronous messaging services, and the receipt of a message will be able to trigger execution of an EJB. Although JMS does specify which protocol will be used for message transfer, early implementers such as Progress have used HTTP, and most are betting that Sun will select HTTP in the ultimate specification.
Even when non- Enterprise Java Beans environments are considered, JMS still will be appealing because of its price. Most messaging middleware require investments of around $100,000; JMS, in the form of Sonic MQ, is priced at $3,000 per processor.
Watch out for JMS. It has the potential to change drastically the message-oriented middleware market.
Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist. He writes the weekly 
