Testing Update: When Out of the Box Isn't

Every integration product claims out of the box adapter support for standard enterprise databases: Oracle, IBM, and SQL Server. Maybe I'm just being pedantic, but "out of the box" means that a feature can be used right away, with no additional software. I should be able to point an Oracle JDBC driver at NWC Inc.'s Oracle 9i database, give it the appropriate credentials and start integrating to my heart's content. Oracle and Microsoft, however, apparently don't believe in supporting their partners. Or at least that's the ISV's story and they're sticking to it. The first ESB product I started testing provides an adapter for Oracle and SQL Server, but of course the appropriate JAR files must be manually copied to the right location on the server before either adapter will actually work. And that's assuming you can figure out where the JAR files need to reside. Is it in /lib? Is it in /ext? Maybe it's in another subdirectory? Why don't you have more details on this? It's a fairly common process, dag nabbit! Would it be so difficult for you to provide an interface that lets me tell you where the JAR file is and then your software can put it where it wants it? Cause you don't want me to tell you where it can go right now...

That's not out of the box, people. I don't know whether to be irritated at the ESB vendor or Oracle and Microsoft for prohibiting distribution of their JDBC driver JAR files with third-party products. It's easy to find the Oracle drivers, they're on the Oracle database server in the lab. But the Microsoft JDBC drivers - which every last J2EE-based integration product requires - are carefully hidden on Microsoft's site. So carefully hidden that the last time I needed them I stored them on NWC Inc.'s NAS so I wouldn't have to go through the pain of finding it again.Yeah, it's not that big of a deal, but it's the little things that annoy you when you're doing something that ought to be a hell of a log easier than it is. I don't know which is more annoying - the proprietary "open" JDBC and JMS standards or claiming out-of-the-box support for a feature that isn't.