Is middleware causing more integration problems than it solves or is middleware integration, as ThoughtWorks chief scientist Martin Fowler and Dr. Jim Webber once put it, "a fat bloke with a beer belly and man boobs?"

I recently asked Craig Muzilla, vp of JBoss at Red Hat this question. I figured since he works with middleware all the time, he'd be well positioned to defend the increasingly maligned middleware.

He contends yes, you could have too much middleware - but the real problem is building withouta reference architecture and standards. But do middleware vendors have any culpability in the unnecessary proliferation of middleware tools?