Sybase gave us a choice of JMS, MQ or files as transport mechanisms, meaning that we could work with our existing corporate infrastructure. The ability to query a UDDI server to define a Web service as an endpoint for an EAI service stands far above the competition at this time. Allowing us to retrieve interface information from a file or URL meant we were not restricted to Web services that were published in a directory.
Orchestrator also let us read WSDL (Web Services Description Language) from the file system or from the URL at which the Web service is deployed. We had a little trouble getting schemas/endpoints/operations to build on one another--operations repeatedly failed to map to the database correctly--but this is likely a learning curve issue.
Orchestrator's autogeneration of WSDL for EAI "services" is unmatched by any product we tested. Sybase has laid out the interface so services are already grouped under a "services" tab in the project view. Very intuitive if you're thinking Web services, and it also fits EAI nicely.
Orchestrator's mapping functionality was sound, allowing us to map from the output of a Web service in the same manner as mapping from the columns in a database. Both use XML to store the interface definition, meaning that we could look at the generated interfaces easily if there were translation problems.
Finally, Sybase offers "viewlets" free on the Web. These are a collection of tutorials done in Flash that walk you through each step of the integration process and give you a leg up on that learning curve. A small thing, perhaps, but indicative of the quality of this product.
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