The movement from client-server computing to multi-tier computing has created a potpourri of so-called middleware systems, including application servers, workflow products, EAI systems, ETL systems and federated data systems. In this paper we argue that the explosion in middleware has created a myriad of poorly integrated systems with overlapping functionality. The world would be well served by considerable consolidation, and we present some of the ways this might happen. Some of the points covered in this paper have been previously explored in [BERN96].
